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I^onore  Ue  BaUac 


^onoxt  tie  ISal^ac 

PHILOSOPHIC 
AND    ANALYTIC    STUDIES 

VOLUME  VII 


LIMITED   TO  ONE   THOUSAND   COMPLETE  COPIES 


NO. 


71  8 


iS^yUpAZ    iSiSj^  ^  ^J,*Mi*lfM 


AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  CALAIS 


He  placed  his  left  foot  on  the  duke 's  chest,  seized 
the  wooden  shaft  of  the  latice  in  his  fingers,  slowly 
worked  it  back  and  forth,  attd  at  last  drew  it  from 
the  duke's  head,  as  if  he  were  dealing  with  a  thing, 
7iot  a  man. 


THE    NOVELS 


OF 


HONORE  DE  BALZAC 


NOW   FOR   THE    FIRST  TIME 
COMPLETELY    TRANSLATED    INTO    ENGLISH 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

BY  G.  BURNHAM  IVES 


WITH    FIVE    ETCHINGS    BY    HENRI-JOSEPH    DUBOUCHET, 

AFTER    PAINTINGS    BY   DIOGENE-ULYSSE- 

NAPOLEON   MAILLART 


IN  ONE  VOLUME 


PRINTED  ONLY  FOR  SUBSCRIBERS  BY 

GEORGE   BARRIE   &   SON,  PHILADELPHIA 


COPYRIGHT,   1899,  BY  GEORGE  6ARRIE  t  SON 


?9 

2-/73 


8 

PS 

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{^ 

1 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 


189976 


TO  MONSIEUR  LE  MARQUIS  DE  PASTORET 

Member  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts 

When  one  considers  the  amazing  number  of  vol- 
umes published  with  the  view  of  fixing  the  point  at 
which  Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps,  and  that  no  one 
can  say  to-day  whether  he  went,  according  to  Whit- 
aker  and  Rivaz,  by  way  of  Lyon,  Geneva,  the  Saint- 
Bernard,  and  the  valley  of  Aosta;  or,  according  to 
Letronne,  Follard,  Saint-Simon,  and  Fortia  d' Urban, 
by  the  Is^re,  Grenoble,  Saint-Bonnet,  Mont  Genevre, 
Fenestrelle,  and  the  Suza  pass;  or,  according  to  La- 
rauza,  by  Mont  Cenis  and  Suza;  or,  according  to 
Strabo,  Polybius,  and  De  Luc,  by  way  of  the  Rhone, 
Vienne,  Yennes,  and  the  Mont  du  Chat;  or,  accord- 
ing to  the  opinion  of  some  judicious  persons,  by  way 
of  Genoa,  La  Bochetta,  and  La  Scrivia,  which  opinion 
I  share,  and  which  Napoleon  adopted, — to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  vinegar  with  which  other  scholars  have 
sprinkled  the  Alpine  cliffs, — one  can  but  be  aston- 
ished, monsieur  le  marquis,  to  see  modern  history 
so  neglected  that  its  most  important  points  are  ob- 
scure and  that  names  which  should  be  held  in  ven- 
eration are  still  burdened  with  most  odious  calumnies. 
We  may  remark,  in  passing,  that  Hannibal's  passage 
of  the  Alps  has  become  almost  problematical  by  dint 
(3) 


4  DEDICATION 

of  having  light  thrown  upon  it.  For  instance,  P^re 
Menestrier  believes  that  the  Scoras  mentioned  by 
Polybius  is  the  Saone;  Letronne,  Larauza,  and 
Schweighauser  identify  it  as  the  Is^re;  Cochard,  a 
Lyonnais  scholar,  is  convinced  that  it  is  the  Drome: 
now,  who  that  has  eyes  can  fail  to  observe  great 
geographical  and  linguistic  resemblances  between 
Scoras  and  Scrivia,  to  say  nothing  of  the  almost 
certainty  that  the  Carthaginian  fleet  anchored  either 
at  Spezzia  or  in  the  roadstead  of  Genoa?  I  could 
understand  all  this  painstaking  investigation,  if  there 
were  any  doubt  about  the  battle  of  Cannes;  but, 
inasmuch  as  its  results  are  perfectly  certain,  where 
is  the  use  of  blackening  so  much  paper  with  such  a 
mass  of  conjectures  which  are  in  some  sense  the 
arabesques  of  hypothesis;  while  the  history  that  is 
of  the  most  importance  to  us  of  the  present  day, 
the  history  of  the  Reformation,  is  so  full  of  obscure 
points  that  we  do  not  know  the  name  of  the  man 
who  propelled  a  vessel  by  steam  at  Barcelona*  in 
the  days  when  Luther  and  Calvin  were  plotting  the 
insurrection  of  thought?  You  and  I  have  reached, 
I  believe,  the  same  conclusion,  after  investigating, 
each  in  his  own  way,  the  grand  and  noble  figure  of 
Catherine  de'  Medici.  Wherefore  it  seemed  to  me 
most  fitting  that  my  historical  study  of  that  queen 
should  be  inscribed  to  a  writer  who  has  worked  so 

♦  The  author  of  the  experiment  at  Barcelona  was  probably  Salomon,  of  Caux, 
not  Caus.  That  great  man  was  always  unlucky ;  even  after  his  death  his  name 
was  mutilated.  Salomon,  whose  portrait,  taken  from  life  at  the  age  of  forty-six, 
was  found  by  the  author  of  the  HUMAN  COMEDY  at  Heidelberg,  was  bom  at 
Caux,  In  Normandy. 


DEDICATION  5 

long  at  the  history  of 'the  Reformation,  and  that  I 
should  thus  do  public  homage  to  the  high  character 
and  loyalty  of  the  man  of  monarchical  principles, 
homage  that  may  be  of  value  because  of  its  rarity. 

Paris,  January  1842. 


INTRODUCTION 

There  is  generally  a  cry  of  paradox  when  scholars, 
having  discovered  a  historical  error,  seek  to  correct 
it;  but  whoever  has  studied  modern  history  with  care 
cannot  doubt  that  historians  are  privileged  liars  who 
lend  their  pens  to  the  support  of  popular  supersti- 
tions, precisely  as  most  of  the  newspapers  of  to-day 
merely  express  the  opinions  of  their  readers. 

Historical  independence  has  always  been  much 
more  rare  in  laymen  than  in  ecclesiastics.  It  is  from 
the  Benedictines,  one  of  the  glories  of  France,  that 
we  obtain  the  purest  light  in  matters  of  history,  pro- 
vided always  that  their  interests  are  not  involved. 
The  result  has  been  that,  since  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  there  have  appeared  divers  able 
and  learned  controversialists,  who,  impressed  by  the 
necessity  of  correcting  the  popular  errors  accredited 
by  historians,  have  published  some  remarkable 
works.  Monsieur  de  Launoy,  for  instance,  who  has 
been  called  the  Dislodger  of  Saints,  waged  a  pitiless 
war  on  the  saints  who  had  been  smuggled  into  the 
Church.  In  like  manner,  the  emulators  of  the  Bene- 
dictines, the  too  little  known  members  of  the  Academy 
of  Inscriptions  and  Belles-Lettres,  began  to  issue 
their  memoires,  remarkable  for  their  patient  labor, 

(7) 


8  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

their  erudition,  and  their  logic,  upon  various  obscure 
points  of  history.  Voltaire,  too,  for  an  unworthy 
purpose,  with  deplorable  passion,  often  turned  the 
light  of  his  intellect  on  historical  prejudices.  Dide- 
rot undertook,  with  that  aim,  a  tediously  long  book 
upon  one  period  in  the  history  of  imperial  Rome. 
It  may  be,  that,  except  for  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, criticism,  applied  to  history,  would  have  paved 
the  way  for  an  accurate  and  reliable  history  of 
France,  for  which  the  materials  were  collected  so 
long  ago  by  our  great  Benedictines.  Louis  XVI., 
a  man  of  sound  judgment,  himself  translated  the 
English  work  wherein  Walpole  tried  to  explain  the 
character  of  Richard  III., — a  work  which  aroused 
much  attention  in  the  last  century. 

How  does  it  happen  that  personages  so  celebrated 
as  kings  and  queens,  persons  of  such  eminence  as 
generals  of  the  army,  become  objects  of  horror  or 
derision.?  Half  of  the  world  hesitates  between  the 
song  concerning  Marlborough  and  the  history  of 
England,  just  as  we  hesitate  between  history  and 
the  popular  beliefs  concerning  Charles  IX.  When- 
ever great  conflicts  take  place  between  the  masses 
and  the  ruling  authorities,  the  people  create  in  their 
own  minds  an  ogresque  personage,  if  we  may  ven- 
ture to  invent  a  word  to  express  a  well-defined  idea. 
In  our  own  times,  for  instance,  except  for  the  Memo- 
rial de  Sainte-HeUne,  and  the  controversies  between 
royalists  and  imperialists,  the  character  of  Napo- 
leon would  be  entirely  misunderstood.  A  few  more 
Abbes  de  Pradt,  a  few  more  newspaper  articles,  and 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  9 

Napoleon  would  have  been  transformed  from  an  em- 
peror to  an  ogre.  How  do  such  errors  gain  currency 
and  credence?  the  mysterious  thing  is  done  under 
our  very  eyes  without  our  noticing  it.  No  one  real- 
izes how  much  consistency  the  invention  of  printing 
has  given  both  to  the  envy  which  clings  to  persons 
in  high  station  and  to  the  popular  pleasantries  which 
reverse  the  true  significance  of  a  great  historical 
fact.  For  instance,  the  Prince  de  Polignac's  name 
is  given  throughout  France  to  the  sorry  nags  who 
have  to  be  constantly  beaten.  But  who  knows  what 
the  future  will  think  of  the  Prince  de  Polignac's 
coup  d'Etat?  As  the  result  of  a  caprice  on  Shake- 
speare's part, — perhaps  it  was  a  stroke  of  vengeance 
like  Beaumarchais's  against  Bergasse, — Begearss, — 
Falstaff  is  the  type  of  absurdity  in  England;  his 
name  provokes  laughter;  he  is  the  king  of  clowns. 
In  reality,  instead  of  being  enormously  stout,  ab- 
surdly licentious,  vain,  a  drunken  old  corrupter  of 
youth,  Falstaff  was  one  of  the  most  important  men 
of  his  time,  a  knight  of  the  Garter,  and  an  offi- 
cer of  high  rank  in  the  army.  On  the  accession 
of  Henry  V.,  Falstaff  was  thirty-four  years  old  at 
most.  He  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Agincourt,  where  he  captured  the  Due  d'Alenfon, 
and  in  1420  took  Montereau,  which  was  stubbornly 
defended.  And  under  Henry  VI.  he  defeated  ten 
thousand  French  with  fifteen  hundred  tired  and 
starving  soldiers. 

So  much  for  war.     If  we  turn  from  war  to  litera- 
ture, Rabelais,  a  sober  man  who  drank  nothing  but 


lO  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

water,  is  commonly  supposed  among  us  to  have 
been  a  lover  of  good  cheer  and  an  inveterate  toper. 
Innumerable  absurd  tales  have  been  told  concerning 
the  author  of  one  of  the  best  books  in  all  French 
literature,  Pantagruel.  Aretino,  the  friend  of  Titian 
and  the  Voltaire  of  his  time,  has  in  our  day  a  repu- 
tation directly  contrary  to  his  character  and  his 
works,  a  reputation  which  he  owes  to  a  coarseness 
of  the  imagination  in  harmony  with  the  writings  of 
that  period,  when  the  drolatique  was  held  in  honor, 
when  queens  and  cardinals  wrote  tales  which  are 
called  licentious  to-day.  We  could  multiply  exam- 
ples of  this  sort  ad  infinitum.  In  France,  and  during 
the  most  serious  portions  of  modern  history,  no 
woman,  except  possibly  Brunehaut  or  Fredegonde, 
has  suffered  more  from  popular  misconception  than 
Catherine  de*  Medici;  whereas  Marie  de'  Medici,  all 
whose  acts  were  injurious  to  France,  escapes  the 
odium  which  should  attach  to  her  name.  Marie 
squandered  the  treasures  amassed  by  Henri  IV.; 
she  never  purged  herself  of  the  reproach  of  having 
known  of  the  proposed  assassination  of  the  king; 
D'Epernon,  who  failed  to  turn  aside  Ravaillac's 
blow,  and  who  knew  the  man  well,  was  one  of 
her  intimate  circle;  she  forced  her  son  to  banish  her 
from  France,  where  she  was  giving  encouragement 
to  the  rebellious  schemes  of  her  other  son,  Gaston; 
and  Richelieu's  triumph  over  her  on  the  Day  of 
Dupes  was  due  solely  to  the  cardinal's  disclosing 
to  Louis  XIII.  certain  secret  documents  concerning 
the  death  of  Henri  IV.   Catherine  de'  Medici,  on  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  II 

other  hand,  saved  the  crown  of  France;  she  upheld 
the  royal  authority  under  circumstances  which 
would  have  caused  more  than  one  great  prince  to 
succumb.  Being  confronted  by  such  rebellious  and 
ambitious  subjects  as  the  Guises  and  the  Bourbons, 
by  men  like  the  two  cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  the 
two  Balafres,  the  two  princes  of  Conde,  Queen 
Jeanne  d'Albret,  Henri  IV.,  the  Constable  Mont- 
morency, Calvin,  the  Colignys,  and  Theodore  de 
B^ze,  she  was  called  upon  to  display  the  rarest 
qualities,  the  most  precious  gifts  of  the  statesman, 
under  the  fire  of  the  mockeries  of  the  Calvinist 
press.  Those  facts  are  certainly  beyond  question. 
So  that,  to  him  who  delves  in  the  history  of  the  six- 
teenth century  in  France,  the  figure  of  Catherine 
de'  Medici  appears  like  that  of  a  great  king.  The 
calumnies  once  scattered  to  the  winds  by  facts  la- 
boriously unearthed  amid  the  contradictory  state- 
ments of  pamphleteers  and  the  fictitious  anecdotes, 
everything  is  explained  to  the  glory  of  this  extraor- 
dinary woman,  who  had  none  of  the  weaknesses  of 
her  sex,  who  lived  a  virtuous  life  amid  the  intrigues 
of  the  most  licentious  court  in  Europe,  and  who  suc- 
ceeded, despite  her  scarcity  of  money,  in  building 
noble  monuments,  as  if  to  make  good  the  losses 
caused  by  the  demolishing  spirit  of  the  Calvinists, 
who  inflicted  as  many  wounds  on  art  as  on  the  body 
politic. 

Placed  between  princes  who  claimed  to  be  the 
heirs  of  Charlemagne,  and  a  seditious  younger 
branch  who  wished  to  bury  the  Constable  Bourbon's 


12  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

treachery  under  the  throne,  Catherine,  compelled 
to  combat  a  heresy  which  was  near  devouring  the 
throne,  friendless,  detecting  treachery  in  the  leaders 
of  the  Catholic  party  and  visions  of  a  republic  in 
the  Calvinist  party,  employed  the  most  danger- 
ous but  the  surest  weapon  in  politics,  cunning! 
She  resolved  to  cajole,  successively,  the  party 
which  sought  the  downfall  of  the  House  of  Valois, 
the  Bourbons  who  desired  the  crown,  and  the  re- 
formers, the  radicals  of  that  period,  who  dreamed 
of  an  impossible  republic,  like  those  of  the  present 
day,  who,  however,  have  nothing  to  reform.  And 
so  long  as  she  lived,  the  Valois  retained  the  throne. 
The  great  De  Thou  showed  a  keen  appreciation  of 
her  worth  when  he  wrote,  on  being  informed  of  her 
death: 

**  It  is  not  simply  a  woman  who  has  died,  but 
royalty  itself!" 

Catherine  had  in  very  truth  the  sentiment  of  roy- 
alty in  the  highest  degree;  so  that  she  defended  it 
with  marvellous  courage  and  persistence.  The  re- 
proaches which  Calvinist  writers  have  heaped  upon 
her  are  clearly  her  greatest  claim  to  glory,  for  she 
incurred  them  only  because  of  her  triumphs.  Could 
she  have  triumphed  otherwise  than  by  stratagem.? 
Therein  lies  the  whole  question.  As  for  violence, 
that  method  brings  up  one  of  the  most  controverted 
questions  in  politics,  a  question  which  has  been  de- 
cided in  our  day  on  the  square  where  they  have 
erected  a  huge  stone  from  Egypt,  to  induce  forget- 
fulness  of  regicide  and  as  an  emblem  of  the  present 


CATHERINE  DE' MEDICI  1 3 

system  of  materialist  politics  by  which  we  are 
governed;  it  was  decided  at  the  Carmes  and  the 
Abbaye;  it  was  decided  on  the  steps  of  Saint-Roch; 
it  was  decided  before  the  Louvre  in  1830,  once  more 
by  the  people  against  the  king,  as  it  was  decided 
by  the  best  of  Lafayette's  republics  against  the 
republican  insurrection  at  Saint-Merri  and  on  Rue 
Transnonnain.  All  ruling  powers,  legitimate  or  ille- 
gitimate, must  defend  themselves  when  they  are 
assailed;  but,  strangely  enough,  while  the  people 
are  considered  heroic  in  their  victory  over  the  no- 
bility, the  ruler  is  called  an  assassin  in  his  duel  with 
the  people.  And  if  he  is  beaten,  after  his  appeal 
to  force,  he  is  called  a  fool  as  well.  The  present 
government  may  try  to  save  itself  by  two  laws  from 
the  same  disease  which  attacked  Charles  X.,  and  of 
which  that  prince  tried  to  rid  himself  by  two  ordi- 
nances. What  a  bitter  mockery  that  would  be! 
Are  sovereigns  to  be  allowed  to  meet  stratagem 
with  stratagem?  may  they  kill  those  who  seek  to 
kill  them?  The  massacres  of  the  Revolution  an- 
swer the  massacres  of  Saint-Bartholomew.  The 
people,  having  become  king,  treated  the  king  and 
the  nobility  as  the  king  and  nobility  treated  the 
rebels  of  the  sixteenth  century.  So  that  the  popular 
writers,  who  know  very  well  that,  under  similar 
circumstances,  the  people  would  do  the  same  thing 
again,  are  entirely  inexcusable  when  they  blame 
.Catherine  de'  Medici  and  Charles  IX. 

All  power,  as  Casimir  Perier  said  when  he  had 
an  opportunity  to  learn  what  power  should  be,  is  a 


14  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

permanent  conspiracy.  We  admire  the  anti-social 
maxims  put  forth  by  some  audacious  writers;  why, 
then,  should  social  truths  be  met  with  disfavor  in 
France  when  they  are  boldly  proclaimed?  That 
question  in  itself  explains  all  historical  errors.  Apply 
the  solution  of  that  question  to  the  ruinous  doctrines 
which  flatter  popular  passions,  and  to  the  conserv- 
ative doctrines  which  hold  in  check  the  wild  or 
foolish  enterprises  of  the  people,  and  you  will  find 
the  reason  for  the  popularity  of  some  personages 
and  the  unpopularity  of  others.  Laubardemont  and 
Laffemas  were,  like  certain  men  of  the  present  day, 
devoted  to  the  defence  of  the  power  in  which  they 
believed.  Whether  soldiers  or  judges,  they  obeyed 
a  royal  authority.  D'Orthez  would  be  dismissed 
to-day  for  having  misunderstood  the  orders  of  the 
ministry,  but  Charles  IX.  allowed  him  to  retain  the 
government  of  his  province.  A  democracy  has  to 
reckon  with  no  one,  a  monarchy  has  to  reckon  with 
its  subjects,  great  and  small  alike. 

Catherine,  like  Philip  II.,  and  the  Duke  of  Alva, 
like  the  Guises  and  Cardinal  Granville,  foresaw  the 
effect  of  the  Reformation  on  the  future  of  Europe. 
They  saw  monarchies,  religion,  the  royal  authority, 
shaken  to  their  foundations!  Catherine,  from  the 
closet  of  the  kings  of  France,  at  once  wrote  the  death- 
warrant  of  that  spirit  of  investigation  which  threat- 
ened the  framework  of  modern  societies,  a  warrant 
which  Louis  XIV.  finally  executed.  The  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  an  unfortunate  measure 
solely  because  of  the   irritation  of  Europe  against 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 5 

Louis  XIV.  At  another  time,  England,  Holland,  and 
the  Empire  would  not  have  encouraged  exiled  French- 
men to  seek  refuge  within  their  borders,  or  given  aid 
to  rebellion  in  France. 

Why  deny  now  to  the  majestic  adversary  of 
the  most  resultless  of  heresies  the  grandeur  which 
she  derived  from  her  very  struggle  against  it?  The 
Calvinists  have  written  a  great  deal  against  the 
stratagem  of  Charles  IX.;  but  cast  your  eye  over 
France:  as  you  gaze  upon  the  ruins  of  innumerable 
demolished  churches,  as  you  probe  the  deep  wounds 
inflicted  by  the  reformers  on  the  fabric  of  society,  as 
you  realize  how  pitilessly  they  revenged  themselves, 
as  you  deplore  the  evils  of  individualism,  the  pest  of 
the  France  of  to-day,  whose  seeds  were  planted  in 
their  agitation  of  the  question  of  liberty  of  con- 
science, you  will  ask  yourself  on  which  side  were 
the  executioners.  As  Catherine  is  made  to  say  in 
the  third  part  of  this  Study:  "  There  are,  unfortu- 
nately, at  all  periods,  hypocritical  writers  ready  to 
bewail  the  fate  of  two  hundred  knaves  opportunely 
executed."  Caesar,  who  tried  to  move  the  Senate 
to  compassion  for  the  faction  of  Catiline,  would  per- 
haps have  triumphed  over  Cicero,  if  he  had  had 
newspapers  and  an  opposition  at  his  orders. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  explains  the 
disfavor  in  which  Catherine  is  held  by  historians 
and  the  common  people.  In  France,  the  opposition 
has  always  been  protestant  because  it  has  never  had 
any  other  policy  than  negation;  it  has  inherited  the 
theories  of  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  and  Protestants, 


l6  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

concerning  the  awe-inspiring  words,  liberty,  prog- 
ress, tolerance,  and  philosophy.  Two  centuries 
were  employed  by  the  opponents  of  lawful  author- 
ity in  establishing  the  doubtful  doctrine  oi  free-will. 
Two  other  centuries  were  employed  in  developing 
the  first  corollary  of  free-will,  liberty  of  conscience. 
Our  century  is  trying  to  establish  the  second  corol- 
lary, political  liberty. 

Seated  between  the  fields  already  traversed  and 
those  still  to  be  traversed,  Catherine  and  the  Church 
proclaimed  the  salutary  basic  principle  of  modern 
societies,  una  fides,  unus  Dominus,  exerting  their 
power  of  life  and  death  over  innovators.  Although 
she  was  beaten  in  the  struggle,  succeeding  centuries 
have  justified  Catherine.  The  product  of  free-will, 
religious  liberty,  and  political  liberty — we  must  not 
confound  the  latter  with  civil  liberty — is  the  France 
of  to-day.  What  is  the  France  of  1840?  a  country 
devoted  exclusively  to  material  interests,  devoid  of 
patriotism  and  of  conscience;  where  the  ruling  pow- 
ers are  without  strength;  where  election,  the  result 
of  free-will  and  political  liberty,  brings  to  the  surface 
none  but  mediocrities;  where  brute  force  has  be- 
come necessary  against  popular  violence,  and  where 
discussion,  extended  to  the  most  trivial  matters, 
checks  all  action  on  the  part  of  the  political  body; 
where  money  rules  all  questions,  and  where  individu- 
alism, a  lamentable  result  of  the  infinitesimal  subdivi- 
sion of  inheritances,  which  annihilates  the  family,  will 
consume  everything,  even  the  nation,  which  selfish- 
ness will  some  day  betray  to  the  invader.     People 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  17 

will  say  to  themselves:  "Why  not  the  Czar?"  as 
they  said  on  a  previous  occasion:  "Why  not  the 
Due  d'Orleans?" — Few  things  are  of  any  conse- 
quence now;  but,  fifty  years  hence,  nothing  will  be 
of  any  consequence. 

According  to  Catherine's  theory,  and  the  theory 
of  all  those  who  wish  for  a  well-ordered  society, 
social  man,  the  subject  has  no  free-will,  should  not 
be  allowed  to  profess  liberty  of  conscience  or  to  enjoy 
political  liberty.  But  as  no  society  can  exist  without 
guarantees  given  to  the  subject  against  the  sovereign, 
the  result  is  that  the  subject  enjoys  certain  liberties, 
subject  to  restrictions.  Liberty,  no;  but  liberties, 
yes ;  liberties  clearly  defined  and  characterized. 
Such  an  arrangement  is  consonant  with  the  nature 
of  things.  It  certainly  is  beyond  human  power  to 
prevent  liberty  of  thought,  and  no  sovereign  can 
lessen  the  power  of  money.  The  great  politicians, 
who  were  beaten  in  that  long  struggle, — it  lasted  five 
centuries, — conceded  great  liberties  to  their  subjects; 
but  they  conceded  neither  liberty  to  publish  thoughts 
antagonistic  to  society,  nor  the  indefinite  liberty  of 
the  subject.  To  their  minds,  in  politics,  subject  and 
free  are  contradictory  terms,  just  as  the  theory  that 
aU  citi:(ens  are  equal  is  mere  nonsense  to  which  nature 
gives  the  lie  every  hour  in  the  day.  To  recognize 
the  necessity  of  a  religion,  the  necessity  of  rulers, 
and  to  allow  subjects  the  right  to  deny  the  religion, 
to  attack  public  worship,  to  oppose  the  ruler's  exer- 
cise of  power  by  the  public  expression,  communicable 
and  communicated,  of  thought,  is  an  impossibility  to 


l8  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

which  the  Catholics  of  the  sixteenth  century  would 
not  listen.  Alas!  the  victory  of  Calvinism  will  cost 
France  much  more  dear  than  it  has  cost  thus  far,  for 
the  religious  and  political  sects  of  to-day,  humani- 
tarians, equalitarians,  etc.,  are  the  tail  of  Calvinism, 
and,  by  reason  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  ruling 
powers,  their  contempt  for  intelligence,  their  love 
for  material  interests,  upon  which  they  choose  mainly 
to  rely,  although  they  are  the  most  treacherous  of 
all  supports,  the  genius  of  destruction  will  carry  the 
day  once  more  over  the  genius  of  preservation,  un- 
less Providence  shall  intervene.  The  assailants, 
who  have  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain, 
have  a  perfect  mutual  understanding;  while  their 
powerful  adversaries  are  unwilling  to  make  any  sort 
of  sacrifice,  either  of  money  or  of  self-love,  to  attract 
defenders. 

The  printing-press  came  to  the  assistance  of  the 
opposition  inaugurated  by  the  Vaudois  and  the  Albi- 
genses.  The  moment  that  human  thought,  instead 
of  condensing  itself  as  it  was  obliged  to  do  in  order  to 
retain  the  most  communicable  form,  donned  a  multi- 
tude of  garments  and  became  the  people,  instead  of 
remaining  divinely  axiomatic,  as  it  were,  there  were 
two  multitudes  to  contend  against, — the  multitude  of 
ideas,  and  the  multitude  of  men.  Royal  power  bit 
the  dust  in  that  war,  and  we  are  witnesses,  in  our 
day,  in  France,  of  its  last  struggle  to  recover  itself 
by  a  combination  with  elements  which  make  it  diffi- 
cult, not  to  say  impossible.  Power  is  an  act,  and 
the  elective  principle  is  discussion.     No  sound  policy 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  I9 

is  possible  with  the  right  of  discussion  permanently 
established. 

We  should  therefore  consider  her  a  very  great 
woman  who  was  able  to  foresee  that  future  and 
who  struggled  against  it  so  courageously.  The 
House  of  Bourbon  owed  it  to  Catherine  de'  Medici 
that  it  was  able  to  succeed  the  House  of  Valois, 
that  it  found  a  crown  to  wear.  Suppose  that  the 
second  Balafre  had  been  alive — powerful  as  the 
Bearnais  was,  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would  have  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  crown,  when  we  consider 
how  dearly  the  Due  de  Mayenne  and  the  remnant 
of  the  Guise  faction  sold  it  to  him.  Observe  this — 
that  the  necessary  methods  resorted  to  by  Catherine, 
who  had  every  reason  to  reproach  herself  for  the 
deaths  of  Frangois  II.  and  Charles  IX.,  both  of 
whom  died  just  in  time  to  save  her,  are  not  the  sub- 
ject of  the  reproaches  of  the  Calvinist  and  modern 
writers!  Even  if  there  were  no  poisoning,  as  certain 
grave  authors  have  charged,  there  was  scheming 
even  more  iniquitous:  it  is  beyond  question  that 
she  prevented  Pare  from  saving  one,  and  that  she 
inflicted  a  prolonged  moral  assassination  on  the 
other.  The  sudden  death  of  Francois  U.,  the  shrewd 
and  crafty  manoeuvring  which  brought  about  the 
death  of  Charles  IX.,  inflicted  no  injury  on  the  Cal- 
vinistic  interests;  the  causes  of  these  two  events  lay 
in  the  more  exalted  spheres,  and  were  suspected 
neither  by  the  writers  nor  by  the  people  of  that 
time;  they  were  divined  only  by  the  De  Thous  and 
the  L'Hopitals,  by  the  most  enlightened  minds  or 


ao  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

by  the  leaders  of  the  two  parties  which  coveted  or 
defended  the  crown,  and  which  found  such  means 
necessary.  Strangely  enough,  the  popular  ballads 
assailed  Catherine's  morals!  Everyone  knows  the 
anecdote  of  the  soldier  who  was  roasting  a  goose  in 
the  guard-house  of  the  chateau  of  Tours  during  the 
conference  between  Catherine  and  Henri  IV.,  and 
singing  a  song  wherein  the  queen  was  insulted  by 
a  comparison  with  the  heaviest  piece  of  ordnance 
which  the  Calvinists  possessed.  Henri  IV.  drew 
his  sword  to  kill  the  man;  Catherine  stopped  him 
and  contented  herself  by  saying  to  the  insulter: 

"After  all,  it  is  Catherine  who  gives  you  the 
goose!" 

If  the  executions  at  Amboise  were  attributed  to 
Catherine,  if  the  Calvinists  made  that  superior 
woman  the  responsible  author  of  all  the  miseries  in- 
separable from  that  contest,  she  suffered  the  same 
fate  as  Robespierre,  concerning  whom  the  judgment 
of  posterity  is  yet  to  be  made.  Catherine  was 
cruelly  punished,  by  the  way,  for  her  preference 
for  the  Due  d'Anjou,  which  led  her  to  betray  the  in- 
terests of  the  two  elder  sons.  Henri  III.,  who,  like 
all  spoiled  children,  had  reached  a  condition  of  the 
utmost  indifference  toward  his  mother,  plunged  of 
his  own  motion  into  the  life  of  debauchery  which 
made  of  him  what  his  mother  had  made  of  Charles 
IX.,  a  childless  husband,  a  king  without  heirs.  Un- 
luckily, the  Due  d'Alengon,  Catherine's  last  male 
child,  died — a  natural  death.  Catherine  made  in- 
credible efforts  to  combat  her  son's  passion.    History 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  21 

has  preserved  the  incident  of  the  supper  party  of 
nude  women  in  the  gallery  at  Chenonjeaux,  on  the 
return  from  Poland,  which  was  ineffectual,  however, 
in  curing  Henri  111.  of  his  bad  habits.  That  great 
queen's  last  words  summarized  her  policy,  which  is 
so  consonant  with  good  sense  that  we  see  all  the 
cabinets  of  Europe  putting  it  in  practice  under  simi- 
lar circumstances. 

''Well  cut,  my  son!"  she  said,  when  Henri  III. 
came  to  her  on  her  death-bed  to  inform  her  that  the 
enemy  of  the  crown  had  been  put  to  death;  "  now, 
we  must  sew  up  the  hole." 

Her  meaning  was  that  the  throne  must  at  once 
effect  a  reconciliation  with  the  House  of  Lorraine, 
and  make  use  of  it,  as  the  only  method  of  fore- 
stalling the  effects  of  the  hatred  of  the  Guises,  by 
opening  to  them  anew  the  prospect  of  enveloping 
the  king  in  their  influence;  but  the  persistent  cun- 
ning of  a  woman, — and  an  Italian, — which  she  had 
always  employed,  was  incompatible  with  the  volup- 
tuary's life  led  by  Henri  III.  When  the  great 
mother — mater  castrorum — was  dead,  the  political 
force  of  the  Valois  died. 

Before  undertaking  to  write  the  history  of  morals 
in  action,  the  author  of  this  Study  patiently  and 
minutely  investigated  the  principal  reigns  of  French 
history,  the  quarrel  between  the  Bourguignons  and 
the  Armagnacs,  between  the  Guises  and  the  Valois, 
each  of  which  occupies  a  century.  It  was  his  pur- 
pose to  write  a  history  of  picturesque  France.  Isa- 
belle  de   Baviere,  Catherine  and  Marie  de'  Medici 


22  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

fill  an  enormous  space  therein,  dominate  the  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  centuries,  and  lead  to  the  age 
of  Louis  XIV.  Of  these  three  queens,  Catherine  is 
the  most  interesting  and  most  beautiful.  Hers  was 
a  virile  domination,  dishonored  neither  by  Isabelle's 
terrible  love-intrigues,  nor  by  the  still  more  terrible, 
although  less  known,  intrigues  of  Marie  de'  Medici. 
Isabelle  invited  the  English  into  France  against  her 
son,  loved  the  Due  d'Orleans,  her  brother-in-law, 
and  Boisbourdon.  Marie  de'  Medici's  account  is  even 
heavier.  Neither  of  them  had  any  political  genius. 
In  the  course  of  these  studies  and  these  compari- 
sons, the  author  became  thoroughly  convinced  of 
Catherine's  grandeur  of  character;  as  he  became 
more  and  more  familiar  with  the  ever-increasing 
difficulties  of  her  position,  he  realized  how  unjustly 
historians,  writing  one  and  all  under  the  influence  of 
the  Protestants,  have  treated  the  queen;  and  the  re- 
sult was  the  three  sketches  here  presented,  wherein 
some  erroneous  opinions  concerning  her,  concerning 
the  persons  who  surrounded  her,  and  concerning  the 
occurrences  of  her  time,  are  combated.  The  reason 
for  including  this  work  among  the  PHILOSOPHICAL 
Studies  is  this:  that  it  exhibits  the  spirit  of  an  epoch, 
and  that  the  influence  of  thought  can  be  clearly 
traced  in  it.  But  before  entering  upon  the  political 
arena  where  Catherine  was  confronted  by  the  two 
great  difficulties  of  her  career,  it  is  necessary  to  give 
a  summary  of  her  previous  life,  written  from  the 
standpoint  of  an  impartial  critic,  so  that  we  may 
have  an  idea  of  the  whole  course  of  that  momentous. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  23 

royal  existence  down  to  the  moment  when  the  first 
part  of  this  Study  begins. 

Never,  in  any  epoch,  in  any  country,  in  any  reign- 
ing family,  was  there  more  contempt  for  legitimacy' 
than  in  the  famous  family  of  Medici.  They  held  the 
same  doctrine  concerning  sovereignty  which  Russia 
professes  to-day:  Every  individual  to  whom  the 
throne  falls  becomes  the  true,  the  lawful  sovereign. 
Mirabeau  well  said:  "There  has  been  but  one 
mesalliance  in  my  family,  that  of  the  Medici;"  for, 
all  the  efforts  of  paid  genealogists  to  the  contrary, 
notwithstanding,  it  is  certain  that  the  Medici,  prior 
to  Averard  de'  Medici,  gonfalonier  of  Florence,  in 
1 314,  were  humble  Florentine  tradesmen,  who  be- 
came very  rich.  The  first  member  of  that  family 
who  occupies  an  important  position  in  the  history  of 
the  famous  Tuscan  republic  is  Salvestro  de'  Medici, 
who  became  gonfalonier  in  1378.  This  Salvestro 
had  two  sons,  Cosmo  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 

From  Cosmo  were  descended  Lorenzo  the  Magnifi- 
cent, the  Due  de  Nemours,  the  Duke  of  Urbino, 
Catherine's  father;  Pope  Leo  X.,  Pope  Clement  VIL, 
and  Alessandro,  not  Duke  of  Florence,  as  some  have 
called  him,  but  Duca  della  cittd  di  Penna,  a  title  be- 
stowed by  Pope  Clement  VH.  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  the  title  of  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

From  Lorenzo  were  descended  Lorenzino,  the 
Florentine  Brutus,  who  killed  Duke  Alessandro; 
Cosmo,  the  first  grand  duke,  and  all  the  sovereigns 
of  Tuscany  down  to  1737,  when  the  family  became 
extinct. 


24  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

But  neither  of  these  two  branches,  the  Cosmo 
branch  or  the  Lorenzo  branch,  reigned  in  a  direct 
line,  until  Tuscany  was  reduced  to  subjection  by 
the  father  of  Marie  de'  Medici,  after  which  its  grand 
dukes  succeeded  one  another  in  natural  order.  For 
instance,  Alessandro  de'  Medici,  who  bore  the  title 
of  Duca  delta  citta  di  Penna,  and  who  was  assas- 
sinated by  Lorenzo,  was  the  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Urbino,  Catherine's  father,  and  a  Moorish  slave. 
^A  Thus  Lorenzino,  the  legitimate  son  of  Lorenzo,  had 
]  a  twofold  right  to  kill  Alessandro,  both  as  a  usurper 
in  his  family  and  as  the  oppressor  of  the  city.  Some 
historians  claim  that  Alessandro  was  a  son  of  Clem- 
ent VH.  This  bastard  owed  his  recognition  as  the 
chief  magistrate  of  the  republic  and  as  head  of  the 
family  of  the  Medici  to  his  marriage  with  Margaret 
of  Austria,  natural  daughter  of  Charles  V. 

Francesco  de'  Medici,  the  husbatid  of  Bianca  Ca- 
pella,  accepted  as  his  son  a  child  of  the  people  pur- 
chased by  that  famous  Venetian,  and,  strange  to 
relate!  Ferdinand,  when  he  succeeded  Francesco, 
upheld  the  claims  of  that  supposititious  heir.  He 
was  known  as  Don  Antonio  de'  Medici,  and  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  family  throughout  four 
reigns;  he  won  the  affection  of  every  member,  ren- 
dered valuable  services  to  the  family,  and  was 
universally  regretted. 

Almost  all  the  earlier  Medici  had  natural  children, 
whose  careers  were  always  brilliant.  For  instance. 
Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici,  who  became  Pope  Clem- 
ent VIL,   was   an   illegitimate   son   of  Giuliano   L 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  2$ 

Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici  was  also  a  bastard,  and 
he  came  very  near  becoming  Pope  and  head  of  the 
family. 

Some  anecdote-makers  insist  that  the  Duke  of  Ur- 
bino,  Catherine's  father,  once  said  to  her:  A  figlia 
d'inganno  non  manca  mai  figliuolani^a, — A  bright  girl  i 
can  always  find  a  way  to  have  children, — apropos 
of  a  certain  physical  malformation  by  which  her  be- 
trothed husband,  Henri,  second  son  of  Francois  I., 
was  afflicted. 

Now,  Lorenzo  II.  de'  Medici,  Catherine's  father, 
who  married  in  1518,  for  his  second  wife,  Madeleine  ^^ 
de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  died  on  April  28,  15 19,  a 
few  days  after  his  wife,  whose  death  was  caused 
by  bringing  into  the  world  her  daughter  Catherine. 
Catherine,  therefore,  lost  father  and  mother  almost 
as  soon  as  she  saw  the  light.  Hence  the  strange 
vicissitudes  of  her  childhood,  which  was  involved  in 
the  sanguinary  combats  between  the  Florentines, 
seeking  to  regain  their  liberty,  and  the  Medici,  who 
were  determined  to  reign  over  Florence,  and  who 
behaved  with  so  much  circumspection  that  Cath- 
erine's father  bore  the  title  of  Duke  of  Urbino. 
After  his  death,  the  legitimate  head  of  the  family  of 
Medici  was  Pope  Leo  X.,  who  governed  Florence 
through  Giulio  de'  Medici,  then  cardinal,  the  ille- 
gitimate son  of  Giuliano.  Leo  X.  was  Catherine's 
great-uncle,  and  this  Cardinal  Giulio,  who  became 
Clement  VII.,  was  uncle  by  the  left  hand  only.  It  \ 
was  that  fact  which  caused  Brantome  jestingly  to  | 
speak  of  that  pope  as  an  uncle  in  Notre-Dame.     It 


26  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

was  during  the  siege  of  Florence,  undertaken  by  the 
Medici  to  re-establish  their  power  in  the  city,  that 
the  republican  party,  not  content  with  having  con- 
fined Catherine,  then  nine  years  of  age,  in  a  convent, 
after  having  stripped  her  of  all  her  property,  pro- 
posed to  expose  her  to  the  fire  of  the  artillery  be- 
tween two  loop-holes,  at  the  suggestion  of  a  certain 
Battista  Cei.  Bernardo  Castiglione  went  still  fur- 
ther, in  a  council  held  to  discuss  the  termination  of 
the  business;  he  advised  that,  instead  of  delivering 
Catherine  to  the  Pope,  who  was  clamoring  for  her, 
they  ought  to  put  her  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  to 
be  dishonored.  All  popular  revolutions  clearly  re- 
semble one  another.  The  policy  of  Catherine,  who 
was  so  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  royal  power, 
may  have  been  induced  by  such  scenes,  which 
could  not  have  passed  unnoticed  by  an  Italian  child 
of  nine. 

The  elevation  of  Alessandro  de'  Medici,  to  which 
the  bastard  Clement  VII.  contributed  so  largely,  was 
mainly  due,  doubtless,  to  the  very  fact  of  his  own 
illegitimacy  and  to  Charles  V.'s  affection  for  his 
celebrated  natural  daughter,  Margaret.  So  that  the 
Pope  and  the  emperor  were  actuated  by  the  same 
sentiment.  At  that  epoch,  Venice  possessed  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  Rome  its  moral  government; 
Italy  still  reigned  through  the  poets,  the  generals, 
and  statesmen  born  within  her  borders.  Never,  in 
any  age,  has  such  an  interesting,  such  a  vast  assem- 
blage of  men  of  genius  been  seen.  There  were  so 
many  of  them  at  that  period  that  even  the  inferior 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  27 

princes  were  superior  men.  Italy  was  fairly  running 
over  with  talent,  audacity,  learning,  poesy,  wealth, 
and  gallantry,  although  rent  by  constant  internal 
wars,  and  although  it  was  the  rendezvous  of  all  the 
conquerors  who  quarrelled  with  one  another  over 
the  possession  of  its  fairest  provinces.  When  men  | 
are  so  strong,  they  are  not  afraid  to  admit  their  I 
weakness.  Hence,  doubtless,  that  golden  age  of  bas- 
tards. We  must,  however,  do  the  natural  children 
of  the  family  of  Medici  the  justice  to  say  that  they 
were  devoted  to  the  glory  and  increase  in  wealth  and 
power  of  that  family.  Thus,  as  soon  as  the  Duca 
della  citta  di  Penna,  the  son  of  the  Moorish  slave, 
was  firmly  installed  as  the  tyrant  of  Florence,  he 
joined  hands  with  Pope  Clement  VII.  to  advance 
the  interests  of  the  daughter  of  Lorenzo  II.,  then 
eleven  years  old. 

When  one  studies  the  progress  of  events  and  of 
mankind  in  that  interesting  sixteenth  century,  one 
must  never  forget  that  an  inevitable  element  of 
politics  in  those  days  was  a  sharp-dealing  which  1 
destroyed,  in  every  character,  that  straightforward,  i 
upright  demeanor  which  the  imagination  demands  of 
eminent  persons.  Therein,  above  all  things,  consists 
Catherine's  absolution.  This  observation  disposes 
of  all  the  trite  and  foolish  accusations  made  by  the 
writers  of  the  Reformation.  That  was  the  most  flour- 
ishing period  of  the  political  system  of  which  the 
code  was  written  by  Machiavelli  and  by  Spinoza,  by 
Hobbes  and  by  Montesquieu,  for  the  dialogue  between 
Sylla  and  Eucrates  contains  the  gist  of  Montesquieu's 


28  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

thought,  which  his  connection  with  the  encydopsedic 
party  did  not  permit  him  to  develop  further. 

These  principles  form  to-day  the  secret  moral  code 
of  all  cabinets  in  which  plans  of  vast  domination  are 
being  formed.  Here,  in  France,  we  blamed  Napoleon 
when  he  made  use  of  the  Italian  genius  which  he  had 
in  cute,  and  whose  schemes  did  not  always  succeed; 
but  Charles  V.,  Catherine,  Philip  II.,  and  Julius  II. 
would  have  adopted  the  same  course  that  he  adopted 
in  the  Spanish  affair.  If  the  history  of  the  period  in 
which  Catherine  was  born  should  be  written  with 
special  reference  to  the  probity  of  the  principal 
characters,  it  would  seem  an  impossible  romance. 
Charles  V.,  whose  duty  it  was  to  support  Cathol- 
icism under  the  attacks  of  Luther,  who  threatened 
the  throne  by  threatening  the  tiara,  allowed  Rome 
to  be  besieged,  and  imprisoned  Pope  Clement  VII. 
This  same  Clement  VII.,  who  had  no  more  invet- 
erate enemy  than  Charles  V.,  paid  court  to  him  in 
order  that  he  might  establish  Alessandro  de'  Medici 
in  power  at  Florence,  and  Charles  V.  bestowed  his 
daughter's  hand  upon  that  bastard.  As  soon  as  he 
was  firmly  established,  Alessandro,  acting  in  concert 
with  Clement,  tried  to  injure  Charles  V.  by  forming 
an  alliance  with  Francois  I.,  through  the  medium  of 
Catherine  de'  Medici,  and  both  of  them  promised  to 
assist  him  in  reconquering  Italy.  Lorenzino  de' 
Medici  became  the  companion  in  debauchery  and 
the  willing  slave  of  Duke  Alessandro,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  able  to  kill  him.  Filippo  Strozzi,  one  of 
the  great  minds  of  that  age,  approved  so  strongly 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  29 

of  that  murder  that  he  swore  that  each  of  his  sons 
should  marry  one  of  the  murderer's  daughters;  and 
each  of  his  sons  religiously  executed  the  father's 
promise,  when,  being  under  Catherine's  protection, 
they  might  both  have  made  brilliant  marriages,  for 
one  was  the  rival  of  Doria,  the  other,  marshal  of 
France.     Cosmo  de*  Medici,  Alessandro's  successor, 
to  whom  he  was  entirely  unrelated,  avenged  that 
tyrant's  death  in  the  most  cruel  fashion,  after  wait- 
ing patiently  for  twelve  years,  during  which   he 
never  abated  his  hatred   of  the  men  who  had  in 
reality  placed  the   power  in   his   hands.     He  was 
eighteen  years  old  when  he  assumed  the  sovereignty; 
his  first  act  was  to  cause  the  rights  of  Alessandro's 
legitimate   sons  to   be   annulled,  although   he  was 
avenging  Alessandro! — Charles  V.  affirmed  the  dis- 
inherison of  his  grandson  and  recognized  Cosmo  in 
place  of  Alessandro's  son.     Cosmo,  who  was  placed 
on  the  throne  by  Cardinal  Cibo,  instantly  banished 
him.     Whereupon   Cardinal  Cib6  at  once  accused 
his  own  creation,  this  same  Cosmo,  who  was  the 
first  grand  duke,  of  a  purpose  to  poison  Alessandro's 
son.     This  grand  duke,  as  jealous  of  his  power  as  r 
Charles  V.  was  of  his,  followed  the  emperor's  ex-  \ 
ample  by  abdicating  in  favor  of  his  son  Francesco,    ! 
after  he  had  caused  his  other  son,  Don  Garcias,  to  / 
be  put  to  death  to  avenge  the  death  of  Cardinal  ! 
Giovanni   de*   Medici,   whom    Garcias    had   assas-  \ 
sinated.      Cosmo  I.  and   his  son   Francesco,  who  ■ 
should   have   been  devoted   body  and   soul  to  the 
House  of  France,  the  only  power  which  could  afford 


30  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

them  support,  were  the  slaves  of  Charles  V.  and 
Philip  II.,  and  consequently  the  secret,  treacherous, 
cowardly  enemies  of  Catherine  de'  Medici,  one  of 
the  greatest  glories  of  their  family.  Such  are  the 
principal  contradictory  and  illogical  exploits,  the 
knaveries,  the  villainous  intrigues  of  the  single 
House  of  Medici.  From  this  sketch,  one  can  form 
some  idea  of  the  other  princes  of  Italy  and  Europe. 
All  the  envoys  from  Cosmo  I.  to  the  French  court 
had  in  their  secret  instructions  an  order  to  poison 
Strozzi,  Catherine's  kinsman,  if  he  were  there. 
Charles  V.  caused  three  ambassadors  of  Francois  I. 
to  be  assassinated. 

It  was  early  in  the  month  of  October,  1533,  that 
the  Duca  delta  cittd  di  Penna  set  out  from  Flor- 
ence for  Leghorn,  accompanied  by  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  the  only  heiress  of  Lorenzo  II.  de'  Medici, 
Duke  of  Urbino.  The  duke  and  the  Princess  of 
Florence — such  was  the  title  by  which  the  young 
girl,  then  fourteen  years  of  age,  was  known — left 
the  city  attended  by  a  considerable  body  of  re- 
tainers, ofificers  of  the  household,  and  secretaries, 
preceded  by  men-at-arms,  and  followed  by  an  escort 
of  horsemen.  The  young  princess  as  yet  knew 
nothing  of  her  destiny,  beyond  the  fact  that  the 
Pope  was  to  have  an  interview  with  Duke  Aiessandro 
at  Leghorn;  but  her  uncle,  Filippo  Strozzi,  soon  re- 
vealed to  her  what  the  future  had  in  store  for  her. 

Filippo  Strozzi  had  married  Clarice  de'  Medici,  half- 
sister  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  Duke  of  Urbino,  Cathe- 
rine's father;  but  that  marriage,  arranged  with  a 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  3 1 

view  to  expediting  the  recall  of  the  Medici,  then 
in  exile,  as  well  as  to  winning  over  to  their  cause 
one  of  the  stoutest  adherents  of  the  popular  party, 
never  caused  that  doughty  champion  to  swerve, 
although  he  was  persecuted  by  his  party  for  having 
concluded  it.  Despite  the  apparent  changes  in  his 
conduct,  which  was  to  some  slight  extent  guided  by 
that  alliance,  he  remained  faithful  to  the  popular 
party  and  declared  against  the  Medici  as  soon  as  he 
divined  their  purpose  of  subjecting  Florence  to  their 
dominion.  That  great  man  even  declined  the  offer 
of  a  principality  which  Leo  X.  made  him.  Filippo 
Strozzi  was  at  that  moment  a  victim  of  the  policy  of 
the  Medici,  always  so  vacillating  in  its  methods,  but 
always  bent  upon  the  same  end.  After  sharing  the 
discomforts  of  the  captivity  of  Clement  VII.,  when, 
surprised  by  the  Colonnas,  he  took  refuge  in  the 
Castle  of  San  Angelo,  he  was  given  up  by  Clement 
as  a  hostage  and  taken  to  Naples.  As  the  Pope,  as 
soon  as  he  was  free,  fell  heavily  on  his  enemies, 
Strozzi  nearly  lost  his  life,  and  was  obliged  to  pay 
an  enormous  sum  to  obtain  his  release  from  prison, 
where  he  was  closely  watched.  When  he  found 
himself  at  liberty,  acting  upon  the  natural  inspiration 
of  an  honest  man,  he  was  foolish  enough  to  present 
himself  before  Clement  VII.,  who  probably  had 
flattered  himself  that  he  was  safely  rid  of  him.  The 
Pope  had  such  abundant  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  his 
conduct  toward  Strozzi  that  he  received  him  most 
ungraciously.  Thus  Strozzi  began  very  early  in  life 
his  apprenticeship  to  the  unhappy  existence  of  the 


32  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

upright  man  in  politics,  whose  conscience  refuses  to 
be  governed  by  the  caprice  of  events,  whose  acts  are 
satisfactory  to  virtue  alone,  and  who  is  persecuted 
on  all  sides:  by  the  people,  because  he  resists  its 
blind  passions;  by  the  ruling  powers,  because  he 
resists  their  usurpations.  The  lives  of  such  great 
citizens  are  a  martyrdom  in  which  they  are  sus- 
tained only  by  the  loud  voice  of  conscience  and  by 
a  heroic  sentiment  of  their  duty  to  society  which 
dictates  their  conduct  in  every  respect.  There  were 
many  men  of  that  stamp  in  the  republic  of  Florence, 
all  as  great  as  Strozzi,  and  as  well  equipped  as  their 
adversaries  of  the  Medici  faction,  although  they  were 
vanquished  by  Florentine  cunning.  What  is  more 
worthy  of  admiration  in  the  Pazzi  conspiracy  than 
the  conduct  of  the  head  of  that  family,  whose  com- 
mercial interests  were  enormous,  and  who  settled 
all  his  accounts  with  Asia,  the  Levant,  and  Europe 
before  entering  upon  the  execution  of  that  far-reach- 
ing design,  so  that  his  correspondents  would  lose 
nothing,  if  he  should  be  defeated  ? 

Thus  the  story  of  the  establishment  of  the  House 
of  Medici  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  stories  which  have  yet 
to  be  written,  although  divers  great  geniuses  have 
bent  their  energies  to  the  task.  It  is  not  the  history 
of  a  republic,  or  a  society,  or  a  particular  form  of 
civilization;  it  is  the  history  of  the  politician,  and  the 
old  familiar  history  of  politics, — of  conquerors  and 
usurpers.  Filippo  Strozzi,  having  returned  to  Flor- 
ence, re-established  the  old  form  of  government,  and 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  33 

expelled  from  the  city  Ippolito  de'  Medici,  another 
bastard,  and  that  very  Alessandro  with  whom  he 
was  now  travelling.  He  was  alarmed  by  the  fickle- 
ness of  the  people;  and  as  he  dreaded  the  vengeance 
of  Clement  Vll.,  he  went  to  Lyon  to  superintend 
a  large  mercantile  house  which  he  had  there,  and 
which  corresponded  with  his  own  bankers  in  Ven- 
ice, Rome,  France,  and  Spain.  It  is  a  strange  fact 
that  these  men,  who  bore  the  weight  of  public 
affairs  and  of  a  constant  struggle  with  the  Me- 
dici, to  say  nothing  of  their  dissensions  with  their 
own  party,  also  carried  the  burden  of  commerce 
and  speculation,  of  banking  and  its  complications, 
which  latter  the  extraordinary  multiplicity  of  coins 
and  their  counterfeits  rendered  much  more  diffi- 
cult than  it  is  to-day. — The  name  banker  came 
from  the  bench — banc — on  which  they  sat,  and  on 
which  they  tested  their  gold  and  silver  pieces. — 
Filippo  found  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  whom  he 
adored,  a  pretext  for  yielding  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  republican  party,  whose  police  is  the  more  to  be 
dreaded  in  all  republics  because  everybody  becomes 
a  spy  in  the  name  of  liberty,  which  justifies  every- 
thing. Filippo  did  not  return  to  Florence  until  the 
moment  when  Florence  was  compelled  to  submit 
to  the  yoke  of  Alessandro;  but  he  had  been  first  to 
see  Pope  Clement  VII.,  v/hose  affairs  were  then  in 
such  flourishing  condition  that  his  disposition  toward 
Filippo  underwent  a  change.  At  the  moment  of  their 
triumph,  the  Medici  stood  in  such  need  of  a  man  like 
Strozzi,  if  for  nothing  else  than  to  bring  about  the 
3 


34  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

accession  of  Alessandro,  that  Clement  found  a  way 
to  persuade  him  to  accept  a  seat  at  the  council-board 
of  the  bastard,  who  was  about  beginning  the  co- 
ercion of  the  city,  and  Filippo  accepted  a  commis- 
sion as  senator.  But,  for  two  years  and  a  half, 
he  had  detected,  like  Seneca  and  Burrhus  at  the 
court  of  Nero,  the  beginnings  of  tyranny.  He 
found  that  he  had  come  to  be  so  distrusted  by  the 
people,  and  such  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  Me- 
dici, whose  designs  he  resisted,  that  he  foresaw  a 
catastrophe.  And  so,  as  soon  as  he  learned  from 
Duke  Alessandro  of  the  projected  alliance  between 
Catherine  and  a  son  of  France,  which  was  prob- 
ably to  be  concluded  at  Leghorn,  where  the  nego- 
tiators had  appointed  to  meet,  he  formed  the  plan 
of  going  to  France  and  attaching  himself  to  the 
fortunes  of  his  niece,  who  must  have  a  guardian. 
Alessandro,  overjoyed  to  be  rid  of  a  man  so  difficult 
to  manage  in  Florentine  affairs,  approved  this  de- 
termination, which  spared  him  the  necessity  of  a 
murder;  and  he  advised  Strozzi  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  Catherine's  household. 

The  Medici,  to  dazzle  the  French  court,  had  pro- 
vided a  brilliant  suite  for  her  whom  they  called  very 
inappropriately  the  Princess  of  Florence,  and  who 
was  also  called  the  little  Duchess  of  Urbino.     The 

/  cortege,  at  the  head  of  which  rode  Duke  Alessandro, 
Catherine,  and  Strozzi,  comprised  more  than  a  thou- 
sand persons,  excluding  the  escort  and  the  servants; 

[  and  when  the  rear  was  passing  through  the  gates 
of  Florence,  the  head  was  already  beyond  the  first 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  35 

village  outside  the  city,  to-day  given  over  to  the 
weaving  of  straw  for  hats.  It  was  beginning  to  be 
rumored  among  the  people  that  Catherine  was  to 
marry  a  son  of  Francois  I.,  but  it  was  still  nothing 
more  than  a  rumor,  which  assumed  definite  shape 
in  the  eyes  of  Tuscany  by  reason  of  this  triumphal 
progress  from  Florence  to  Leghorn.  From  the  prepa- 
rations which  it  necessitated,  Catherine  suspected 
that  her  marriage  was  involved,  and  her  uncle  told 
her  of  the  failure  of  the  plans  of  her  ambitious  kins- 
men, who  had  tried  to  obtain  the  dauphin's  hand  for 
her.  Duke  Alessandro  still  hoped  that  the  Duke  of 
Albany  would  succeed  in  inducing  the  King  of  France 
to  change  his  mind,  for  he  was  desirous  to  purchase 
the  support  of  the  Medici  in  Italy,  but  was  unwilling 
to  pay  any  higher  price  than  the  Due  d'Orleans.  This 
ungenerousness  caused  the  loss  of  Italy  to  France, 
and  did  not  prevent  Catherine  from  being  queen. 

This  Duke  of  Albany,  son  of  Alexander  Stuart, 
brother  of  James  III.,  King  of  Scotland,  had  married 
Anne  de  la  Tour  de  Boulogne,  sister  of  Madeleine  de 
la  Tour  de  Boulogne,  Catherine's  mother;  thus  he 
was  her  maternal  uncle.  It  was  through  her  mother 
that  Catherine  was  so  rich  and  allied  to  so  many 
families;  for,  strangely  enough,  Diane  de  Poitiers,  her 
rival,  was  also  her  cousin.  Jean  de  Poitiers,  Diane's 
father,  was  a  son  of  Jeanne  de  la  Tour  de  Boulogne, 
the  Duchess  of  Urbino's  aunt.  Catherine  was  also 
connected  with  Mary  Stuart,  her  daughter-in-law. 

Catherine  was  informed  that  her  marriage-portion 
in  money  would  be  one  hundred  thousand  ducats. 


36  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

The  ducat  was  a  gold  piece  of  the  size  of  one  of  our 
old-fashioned  louis,  but  only  half  as  thick.  Thus  a 
hundred  thousand  ducats  in  those  days,  allowing  for 
the  much  greater  value  of  gold,  represented  about 
six  millions  of  our  present  money,  the  ducat  to-day 
being  worth  almost  twelve  francs.  We  can  under- 
stand the  extensive  banking  business  carried  on  by 
Filippo  Strozzi's  house  at  Lyon,  when  we  consider 
that  his  agent  in  that  city  was  to  provide  the  twelve 
hundred  thousand  livres  in  gold.  The  counties  of 
Auvergne  and  Lauraguais  were  also  to  form  a  part 
of  Catherine's  dowry,  and  Pope  Clement  presented 
her  with  another  hundred  thousand  ducats  in  jewels, 
precious  stones,  and  other  wedding-gifts,  to  which 
Duke  Alessandro  contributed. 

On  arriving  at  Leghorn,  Catherine,  who  was  still 
a  mere  girl,  could  not  fail  to  be  flattered  by  the  ex- 
traordinary magnificence  which  Pope  Clement,  her 
"uncle  in  Notre-Dame,"  at  that  time  the  head  of 
the  House  of  Medici,  displayed  in  order  to  humiliate 
the  court  of  France.  He  had  already  arrived  in  one 
of  his  galleys,  which  was  upholstered  from  stem  to 
stern  in  crimson  satin  with  gold  fringe,  and  covered 
with  an  awning  of  cloth  of  gold.  This  galley,  the 
decorations  of  which  cost  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand ducats,  had  several  cabins  intended  for  the 
promised  bride  of  Henri  of  France,  all  furnished 
with  the  richest  curiosities  which  the  Medici  had 
been  able  to  collect.  The  rowers,  who  were  mag- 
nificently dressed,  and  the  crew,  were  commanded 
by  a  prior  of  the  Order  of  Knights  of  Rhodes.     The 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  37 

Pope's  household  travelled  on  three  other  galleys. 
The  galleys  of  the  Duke  of  Albany,  which  lay  at 
anchor  beside  Clement's,  formed  with  them  a  con- 
siderable flotilla. 

Duke  Alessandro  presented  the  officers  of  Cath- 
erine's household  to  the  Pope,  with  whom  he  held 
a  secret  conference,  at  which  he  probably  intro- 
duced to  His  Holiness  Count  Sebastiano  Montecu- 
culli,  who  had  just  left,  somewhat  abruptly,  it  was 
said,  the  service  of  the  emperor,  and  his  two  gen- 
erals, Antonio  de  Leyva  and  Ferdinando  de  Gon- 
zaga.  Was  there  a  concerted  plan  between  the  two 
bastards,  Giulio  and  Alessandro,  to  make  the  Due 
d'Orleans  dauphin?  What  was  the  reward  prom- 
ised to  Count  Sebastiano  Montecuculli,  who,  before 
taking  service  with  Charles  V.,  had  studied  medi- 
cine? History  is  silent  on  this  subject.  Moreover, 
we  shall  soon  see  with  what  dense  clouds  the  whole 
transaction  is  enveloped.  The  obscurity  is  so  great 
that  sober-minded  and  conscientious  historians  have 
in  recent  years  admitted  Montecuculli's  innocence. 

Catherine  now  learned  officially  from  the  Pope's 
lips  the  alliance  that  was  proposed  for  her.  The 
Duke  of  Albany  had  not  been  able  without  great 
difficulty  to  keep  the  King  of  France  to  his  promise 
of  giving  even  his  second  son  to  Catherine.  So  that 
Clement's  impatience  was  so  great,  he  was  so  afraid 
of  finding  his  plans  overturned,  either  by  some  in- 
trigue on  the  emperor's  part  or  by  the  indifference 
of  France,  where  the  leading  men  looked  with  little 
favor  on  the  proposed  marriage,  that  he  set  sail  at 


189976 


w 


38  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

once  for  Marseille.  He  reached  that  port  late  in 
October,  1533.  Despite  its  magnificent  display, 
the  House  of  Medici  was  eclipsed  by  the  House  of 
France.  To  show  how  far  those  bankers  carried 
their  ostentation,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  dou^ain 
placed  by  the  Pope  in  the  wedding-purse  consisted  of 
gold  medallions  of  incalculable  historical  value,  for 
they  were  unique  at  that  time.  But  Francois  I., 
who  loved  display  and  festivities,  outdid  himself  on 
this  occasion.  The  nuptials  of  Henri  de  Valois  and 
Catherine  lasted  thirty-four  days. 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  repeat  here  the  details, 
1  \\  familiar  as  household  words  in  all  the  histories  of 
Provence  and  Marseille,  of  the  famous  interview 
between  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  France,  which 
was  signalized  by  the  Duke  of  Albany's  jest  con- 
cerning the  duty  of  refraining  from  eating  flesh;  a 
comical  blunder  mentioned  by  BrantSme,  which 
amused  the  court  hugely,  and  which  shows  the 
moral  tone  of  that  period.  Although  Henri  de  Val- 
ois was  but  three  weeks  older  than  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  the  Pope  insisted  that  the  marriage  should 
be  consummated  on  the  very  day  of  its  celebration, 
so  fearful  was  he  of  the  political  subterfuges  and 
wiles  then  in  vogue.  Clement,  determined,  as  his- 
tory informs  us,  to  obtain  evidence  of  the  consum- 
mation of  the  marriage,  remained  thirty-four  days 
at  Marseille  for  that  express  purpose,  hoping  that 
his  niece  would  afford  him  visible  proof  of  the  fact; 
for  Catherine  was  mature  at  fourteen.  In  all  prob- 
ability it  was  while  he  was  questioning  the  bride 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  59 

before  his  departure,  that  he  said  to  her,  to  console 
her,  the  famous  words  attributed  to  her  father:  A 
figlia  dHnganno,  non  manca  mat  la  figliuolariT^a. 

The  strangest  conjectures  have  been  entertained 
concerning  Catherine's  sterility,  which  lasted  ten 
years.  Few  people  are  aware  to-day  that  there  are 
several  medical  treatises  containing  such  indecent 
suppositions  relative  to  that  peculiar  state  of  affairs, 
that  they  cannot  be  printed.  But  the  article  en- 
titled Fernel  in  Bayle  affords  a  fair  idea  of  the  extra- 
ordinary slanders  heaped  upon  that  queen,  whose 
every  act  was  distorted.  Her  sterility  was  due  solely 
to  Henri  II.  It  would  have  been  enough  to  observe 
that,  at  a  time  when  no  prince  was  at  all  embar- 
rassed about  having  natural  children,  Diane  de 
Poitiers,  to  whom  he  was  much  more  attached  than 
to  his  lawful  wife,  had  none.  There  is  nothing  more 
common  in  surgery  than  Henri's  malformation,  which 
is  made  clear,  moreover,  by  the  jest  of  the  ladies  at 
court,  who  styled  him  Abbe  de  Saint-Victor,  at  a 
period  when  the  French  language  enjoyed  the  same 
privileges  as  the  Latin.  As  soon  as  the  prince  sub- 
mitted to  the  necessary  operation,  Catherine  had 
eleven  pregnancies  and  ten  children.  It  is  fortunate 
for  France  that  Henri  II.  delayed  as  he  did.  If  he 
had  had  children  by  Diane,  matters  would  have  been 
terribly  complicated.  When  the  operation  was  per- 
formed, the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois  had  reached 
the  second  girlhood  of  women.  That  single  fact 
proves  that  the  history  of  Catherine  de'  Medici  is 
still  to  be  written  from  beginning  to  end,  and  that,  as 


40  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Napoleon  very  wisely  observed,  the  history  of  France 
should  be  in  only  one  volume  or  in  a  thousand. 

Pope  Clement's  sojourn  at  Marseille,  when  we 
compare  the  conduct  of  Charles  V.  with  that  of  the 
King  of  France,  demonstrates  the  king's  vast  superi- 
ority to  the  emperor,  in  that  respect  as  in  every 
other,  by  the  way.  We  quote  a  succinct  account 
of  the  interview,  given  by  a  contemporary: 

"  His  Holiness  the  Pope,  having  been  escorted  to 
the  palace,  which,  as  1  have  said,  had  been  pre- 
pared for  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  harbor,  one 
and  all  withdrew  to  their  quarters  until  the  follow- 
ing day,  which  His  Holiness  had  assigned  for  his 
entry,  which  was  made  with  great  sumptuosity  and 
magnificence,  he  being  seated  in  a  chair  borne  on 
the  shoulders  of  two  men,  and  in  his  pontifical  gar- 
ments, save  only  the  tiara;  before  him  went  a  white 
palfrey  whereon  lay  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  the 
said  palfrey  being  driven  by  two  men  on  foot,  in 
very  handsome  livery,  with  reins  of  white  silk. 
Then  came  all  the  cardinals  in  their  robes,  mounted 
on  their  pontifical  mules,  and  Madame  the  Duchess 
of  Urbino  in  great  splendor,  attended  by  a  great 
number  of  lords  and  ladies,  both  French  and  Italians. 
The  Holy  Father,  thus  escorted,  having  reached  the 
place  prepared  for  his  lodging,  everyone  withdrew; 
and  all  this  was  arranged  and  carried  out  without 
any  confusion  or  disturbance.  Now,  while  the  Pope 
was  making  his  entry,  the  king  entered  the  harbor 
in  a  frigate,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  place  from 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  4I 

which  the  Pope  had  set  out,  in  order  to  go  from  that 
place  on  the  morrow  to  make  his  obeisance  to  the 
Holy  Father  as  most  Christian  king. 

"  The  king,  being  fully  prepared,  set  out  for  the 
palace  where  the  Pope  was,  attended  by  the  princes 
of  his  blood,  Monseigneur  le  Due  de  Vendosmois, 
— father  of  the  Vidame  de  Chartres, — ^the  Comte  de 
Sainct-Pol,  Messieurs  de  Montpensier  and  de  la 
Roche-sur-Yon,  the  Due  de  Nemours,  brother  of 
the  Due  de  Savoie,  who  died  at  that  place;  the 
Duke  of  Albany  and  several  others,  counts,  barons, 
and  lords,  the  Seigneur  de  Montmorency,  the  king's 
grand  master,  riding  always  beside  him.  The  king, 
having  arrived  at  the  palace,  was  received  very 
kindly  by  the  Pope  and  the  whole  college  of  car- 
dinals, assembled  in  consistory.  That  done,  every- 
one retired  to  the  place  assigned  to  him,  and  the 
king  took  several  cardinals  away  with  him  to  enter- 
tain them,  among  others  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  the 
Pope's  nephew,  a  man  of  great  magnificence  and 
well  attended.  On  the  morrow  the  persons  sum- 
moned by  His  Holiness  and  the  king  began  to  assem- 
ble to  treat  of  those  matters  which' the  interview 
was  held  to  decide.  First  was  discussed  the  matter 
of  faith,  and  a  bull  was  promulgated  to  put  down 
heresy,  and  to  prevent  the  flame  from  becoming 
fiercer  than  it  already  was.  Then  was  concluded 
the  marriage  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  second  son 
of  the  king,  to  Catherine  de'  Medici,  Duchess  of 
Urbino,  niece  to  His  Holiness,  with  the  same  or 
similar  conditions  to  those  formerly  proposed  to  the 


42  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Duke  of  Albany.  The  said  marriage  was  consum- 
mated withi  great  pomp,  and  our  Holy  Father  mar- 
ried them.  The  marriage  thus  consummated,  the 
Holy  Father  held  a  consistory,  at  which  he  created 
four  cardinals  of  the  king's  nomination,  namely: 
Cardinal  Le  Veneur,  formerly  Bishop  of  Lisieux, 
and  grand  almoner;  Cardinal  de  Boulogne,  of  the 
family  of  La  Chambre,  half-brother  to  the  Duke  of 
Albany;  Cardinal  de  Chatillon,  of  the  family  of 
Coligny,  nephew  to  the  Sire  de  Montmorency,  and 
Cardinal  de  Givry." 

When  Strozzi  delivered  the  dowry  in  presence  of 
the  court,  he  observed  some  signs  of  astonishment 
among  the  French  nobles:  they  said  openly  that  it 
was  a  mere  trifle  for  a  mesalliance — what  would 
they  have  said  to-day?  Thereupon  Cardinal  Ippolito 
replied : 

•*  It  seems  that  you  are  not  admitted  to  your  king's 
secrets.  His  Holiness  binds  himself  to  give  France 
.^jL..^  three  pearls  of  inestimable  value:  Genoa,  Milan,  and 

Naples." 

The  Pope  allowed  Count  Sebastiano  Montecuculli 
to  present  himself  at  the  French  court,  where  he 
offered  his  services,  complaining  bitterly  of  Antonio 
de  Leyva  and  Ferdinando  de  Gonzaga;  these  com- 
plaints led  to  his  services  being  accepted.  Monte- 
,  cuculli  did  not  belong  to  Catherine's  household, 
which  was  made  up  entirely  of  Frenchmen  and 
Frenchwomen;  for,  in  compliance  with  a  law  of  the 
realm,  the  execution  of  which  was  witnessed  by 


\ 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  43 

the  Pope  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  Catherine  was 
naturalized  by  letters  patent  prior  to  the  marriage. 
Montecuculli  was  attached  at  first  to  the  household 
of  the  queen,  Charles  V.'s  sister.  In  a  short  time 
he  entered  the  service  of  the  dauphin  as  cup-bearer. 

The  Duchesse  d'Orleans  found  that  she  was 
utterly  lost  to  sight  at  the  French  court.  Her  young 
husband  was  in  love  with  Diane  de  Poitiers,  who 
certainly  was  a  fair  rival  of  Catherine  so  far  as  birth 
was  concerned,  and  was  of  far  greater  consequence 
than  she.  The  daughter  of  the  Medici  was  com- 
pelled to  yield  precedence  to  Queen  Eleanor,  sister 
of  Charles  V.,  and  to  the  Duchesse  d'Etampes, 
whose  marriage  to  the  head  of  the  family  of  Brosse 
made  her  one  of  the  most  powerful  women  in  France 
and  bearer  of  one  of  the  most  venerable  titles.  Her 
aunt,  the  Duchess  of  Albany,  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
the  Duchesse  de  Guise,  the  Duchesse  de  Vendome, 
the  Constable's  wife,  and  several  other  women  of 
equal  eminence,  by  their  birth  and  privileges,  as 
well  as  by  their  power  at  the  most  magnificent 
court  that  ever  surrounded  a  king  of  France,  not 
excepting  Louis  XIV.,  overshadowed  the  daughter  of 
Florentine  tradesmen,  who  was  wealthier  and  more 
illustrious  through  her  mother's  family  of  La  Tour 
de  Boulogne  than  through  the  family  of  Medici. 

His  niece's  position  was  so  unpleasant  and  so 
difficult  that  the  republican  Filippo  Strozzi,  who  was 
quite  incapable  of  guiding  her  amid  so  many  con- 
flicting interests,  left  her  after  the  first  year;  in  fact, 
he  was  summoned  back  to  Italy  by  the  death  of 


44  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Clement  VII.  Catherine's  conduct,  if  we  remember 
that  she  was  barely  fifteen  years  old,  was  a  model 
of  circumspection.  She  attached  herself  closely  to 
the  king,  her  father-in-law,  and  left  his  side  as  little 
as  possible;  she  followed  him  in  the  saddle,  on  his 
hunting-parties,  and  to  the  field  of  battle.  Her 
idolatrous  affection  for  Francois  I.  averted  all  sus- 
picion from  the  Medici  when  the  dauphin  was 
poisoned.  At  that  time,  Catherine  and  the  Due 
d'Orleans  were  at  the  king's  headquarters  in  Pro- 
vence, for  France  was  invaded  soon  after  the  mar- 
riage by  Charles  V.,  the  king's  brother-in-law.  The 
,.-,j'  whole  court  remained  at  the  scene  of  the  wedding 

^  festivities,  transformed  into  the  scene  of  one  of  the 

bloodiest  of  wars. 
'  When  Charles  V.  was  in  full  retreat,  leaving  the 
bones  of  his  army  in  Provence,  the  dauphin  was 
returning  to  Lyon  along  the  Rh6ne;  he  halted  for  the 
night  at  Tournon,  and  by  way  of  pastime  indulged 
in  some  of  the  violent  exercises  which  formed  the 
major  part  of  his  brother's  education  and  his  own, 
as  a  result  of  their  captivity  as  hostages.  The 
prince  being  very  warm, — it  was  in  August, — was 
imprudent  enough  to  ask  for  a  glass  of  water,  which 
Montecuculli  handed  him  iced.  The  dauphin  died 
almost  instantly.  Francois  I.  adored  his  son,  who 
was,  according  to  all  historians,  an  accomplished 
prince.  The  father,  in  his  despair,  caused  the  prose- 
cution of  Montecuculli  to  be  conducted  with  the 
greatest  publicity,  and  entrusted  it  to  the  most 
learned  magistrates  of  the  time.     After  submitting 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  45 

to  the  first  tortures,  like  a  hero,  without  confessing 
anything,  the  count  made  disclosures  wherein  he  im- 
plicated the  emperor  and  his  two  generals,  Antonio 
de  Leyva  and  Ferdinando  de  Gonzaga.  Francois  I. 
was  not  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the  prosecution. 
No  cause  was  ever  more  solemnly  discussed  than 
this.  This  is  what  the  king  did,  according  to  the 
narrative  of  an  eye-witness: 

"  The  king  summoned  to  Lyon  all  the  princes  of  his 
blood,  all  the  chevaliers  of  his  order,  and  other  great 
personages  of  his  kingdom :  the  papal  legate  and 
nuncio,  the  cardinals  who  were  present  at  his  court, 
also  the  ambassadors  of  England,  Scotland,  Portugal, 
Venice,  Ferrara,  and  others;  also  all  the  princes  and 
great  foreign  lords,  Italian  and  German,  who  were 
resident  in  his  court  at  that  time,  as  the  Duke  of 
Wittemberg,  German;  the  Dukes  of  Somme,  Ariano, 
and  Atri;  the  Prince  of  Melfi — who  wanted  to  marry 
Catherine — and  the  Prince  of  Stigliano,  Neapolitans; 
Signor  Don  Ippolito  d'Este;  the  Marquis  of  Vigevano 
of  the  Trivulzio  family,  Milanese;  Signor  Gian  Paulo 
de  Cere,  Roman;  Signor  Cesare  Fregoso,  Genoese; 
Signor  Annibal  de  Gonzaga,  Mantuan,  and  a  great 
number  of  others,  who  having  assembled,  he  caused 
to  be  read  in  their  presence,  from  beginning  to  end, 
the  proceedings  against  the  unhappy  man  who  had 
poisoned  the  late  monseigneur  le  dauphin,  with  the 
interrogatories,  confessions,  confrontations,  and  other 
solemnities  usual  in  criminal  trials,  not  wishing  that 
sentence  should  be  executed  until  all  those  present 


46  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

;    should  have  given  their  opinion  touching  that  appall- 
\    ing  and  horrible  case." 

The  fidelity,  the  self-sacrificing  devotion,  and  the 
adroitness  of  Count  Montecuculli  may  well  appear 
extraordinary  in  an  age  of  general  indiscretion, 
when  all,  even  ministers  of  State,  chatter  about  the 
most  minute  events  which  have  come  under  their 
notice;  but  in  those  days  princes  were  fortunate  in 
finding  devoted  retainers,  or  knew  how  to  select 
them.  In  those  days  there  were  monarchical  Moreys 
because  there  was  faith.  Never  ask  any  great  sac- 
I  rifice  from  those  whose  attachment  is  based  upon 
I  self-interest,  because  interests  may  change;  but  ex- 
pect everything  from  earnest  sentiments,  from  re- 
ligious faith,  from  monarchical  faith,  from  patriotic 
faith.  These  three  varieties  of  faith  alone  produce 
the  Berthereaus  of  Geneva,  the  Sydneys  and  Straf- 
fords  of  England,  the  assassins  of  Thomas  a-Becket 
as  well  as  the  Montecucullis,  the  Jacques  Coeurs  and 
Jeanne  d'Arcs  as  well  as  the  Richelieus  and  Dantons, 
the  Bonchamps  and  Talmonts,  and  the  Clements, 
Chabots,  etc.  Charles  V.  made  use  of  the  most 
exalted  personages  in  the  assassination  of  the  three 
ambassadors  of  Francois  I.  A  year  later,  Loren- 
zino,  Catherine's  cousin-german,  assassinated  Duke 
Alessandro  after  a  dissimulation  of  three  years,  and 
under  circumstances  which  have  caused  him  to  be 
called  the  Florentine  Brutus.  The  rank  of  the  individ- 
uals involved  imposed  so  little  restraint  on  such  enter- 
prises, that  the  death  of  Leo  X.  and  of  Clement  VII. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  47 

as  well,  were  supposed  not  to  be  due  to  natural  f 
causes.      Mariana,  the  historian  of  Philip  II.,  almost]  <^-  .     . 
perpetrates  a  joke  in  recording  the  death  of  the  Queen    ^-^'^^■\^/^  .^,y_ 
of  Spain,  a  princess  of  France.     He  says  that,  "for  ^ 

the  glory  of  the  throne  of  Spain,  God  ordained  the    j 
blindness  of  the  physicians,  who  treated  the  queen    j 
for  dropsy." — She  was  enceinte. — When  Henri  II.  in-  / 
dulged  in  a  calumny  which  deserved  a  sword-thrust,  I 
he  found  La  Chataigneraie  to  receive  it.     In  those/' 
days,  the  repasts  of  princes  and   princesses  were 
served  in  boxes  fastened  with  padlocks — cadenas — of 
which  they  kept  the  keys.    Hence  the  droit  de  cade- 
nas, an  honor  which  became  extinct  under  Louis  XIV.    i    ' 

The  dauphin  died  by  poison,  in  the  same  way, 
perhaps  by  the  same  poison,  that  killed  MADAME 
under  Louis   XIV.     Pope   Clement  VII.  had   been 
dead  two  years;  Duke  Alessandro,  plunged  in  de-      ; 
bauchery,  seemed  to  have  no  possible  interest  in     | 
the  elevation  of  the  Due   d'Orleans.      Catherine,     \ 
then  seventeen,  and  overflowing  with  affection  for     | 
her  father-in-law,  was  with  him  at  the  time  of  the     I 
catastrophe;  Charles  V.  alone  seemed  to  have  an    / 
interest  in  that  death,  for  Francois  I.  had  in  view    i 
for  his  son  an  alliance  which  would  exalt  the  power   i 
of  France.    The  count's  confessions,  therefore,  were 
very  adroitly  made  to  rest  upon  the  passions  and 
policies  of  the  moment.     Charles  V.  retreated  after  [ 
he  had  seen  his  armies  buried  in  Provence  with  his 
good-fortune,  his  reputation,  and  his  hopes  of  domi- 
nation.   Observe  that  if  the  torture  had  wrung  a  con- 
fession from  an  innocent  man,  Francois  I.  afterward 


48  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

gave  him  full  liberty  to  speak  in  the  presence  of  an 
imposing  assemblage  made  up  of  men  before  whom 
innocence  had  some  chance  of  triumphing.  The 
king,  who  wished  to  know  the  truth,  sought  in  good 
faith  to  discover  it. 

.  Notwithstanding  her  brilliant  prospects,  Cath- 
erine's position  at  court  did  not  change  with  the 
dauphin's  death;  her  sterility  made  people  antici- 
pate a  divorce  in  case  her  husband  should  succeed 
to  the  throne.  The  new  dauphin  was  under  the 
charm  of  Diane  de  Poitiers.  Diane  dared  to  set 
herself  up  as  a  rival  to  Madame  d'Etampes.  Where- 
fore, Catherine  redoubled  her  attentions  and  cajol- 
eries with  her  father-in-law,  realizing  that  she  could 
look  nowhere  else  for  support.  The  first  ten  years 
of  Catherine's  married  life  were  embittered  by  the 
repeated  disappointments  due  to  the  constant  crush- 
ing of  her  hopes  of  maternity  and  to  her  wearisome 
rivalry  with  Diane.  Imagine  the  life  of  a  princess 
spied  upon  by  a  jealous  mistress  who  is  supported 
by  an  immense  party,  the  Catholic  party,  and  by 
two  such  alliances  as  the  senechale  made  in  marry- 
ing her  daughters,  one  to  Robert  de  la  Mark,  Due  de 
Bouillon  and  Prince  de  Sedan,  the  other  to  Claude 
de  Lorraine,  Due  d'Aumale. 

Catherine,  lost  between  the  party  of  the  Duchesse 
d'Etampes  and  that  of  the  senechale, — such  was 
Diane's  title  during  the  reign  of  Francois  I., — ^tried 
to  be  the  friend  of  the  Duchesse  d'Etampes  and  the 
friend  of  Diane  de  Poitiers  at  the  same  time,  the  court 
being  divided  between  those  two  mortal  enemies. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  49 

She  who  was  destined  to  be  so  great  a  queen  played 
the  part  of  a  servant.  Thus  she  served  her  ap- 
prenticeship in  that  two-faced  policy  which  was  the  /^ 
secret  of  her  life.  The  queen  found  herself  later  \| 
between  Catholics  and  Calvinists,  as  the  woman  had 
been  for  ten  years  between  Madame  d'Etampes  and 
Madame  de  Poitiers.  She  studied  the  contradictory 
course  of  French  politics:  Francois  I.  supported  Cal- 
vin and  the  Lutherans  to  embarrass  Charles  V. 
Then,  after  he  had  secretly  and  patiently  protected 
the  Reformation  in  Germany,  after  he  had  winked 
at  Calvin's  residence  at  the  court  of  Navarre,  he 
descended  upon  the  reformers  with  unmeasured 
severity.  Thus  Catherine  saw  that  court  and  the 
women  of  that  court  playing  with  the  fire  of  heresy, 
and  Diane  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  party  with  ^^.rt^-^ '*'""  / 

the  Guises,  solely  because  the  Duchesse  d'Etampes      ^ ,     ,^.     ^^Sro-^JL-     '"^ 
upheld  Calvin  and  the  Protestants.  ;*.fc.^XA.^"^  ^^8^.>A. 

Such  was  the   political  training  of  that  queen,  1  c^^ ^-'^'*f ''^       ^,^ 
who  observed  in  the  cabinet  of  the  King  of  France  i  ,j^^-^       ^^J^ 
the  devious  dealings  characteristic  of  the  House  of/  \  X<s**^"^    iJj^J-  t 


Medici.     The  dauphin  thwarted  his  father  in  every-?  ;  f^^"^"^     dr    i^ 
thing;  he  was  a  bad  son.     He  forgot  the  most  cruel j    ^H'V-'^'^'"^**^*  ^ 
but  the  truest  maxim  of  royalty,  namely :  that  thrones     jn^^ju'S  /«-'»'^'* 
are  mutually  bound  for  one  another,  and  that  the  son,     vOj^*vt«o^ 
who  may  be  in  opposition  during  his  father's  lifetime, 
is  in  duty  bound  to  adopt  his  policies  on  ascending  the 
throne.     Spinoza,  who  was  a  no  less  profound  poli- 
tician than  a  great  philosopher,  has  said,  in  reference 
to  the  case  of  one  king  succeeding  another  as  the 
result  of  insurrection  or  assassination:  "If  the  new 
4 


50  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

king  wishes  to  assure  his  seat  on  the  throne  and  to 
protect  his  life,  he  must  show  so  much  zeal  in 
avenging  his  predecessor's  death  that  no  one  will 
be  tempted  to  commit  a  similar  crime.  But,  to 
avenge  him  worthily,  it  is  not  enough  to  shed  the 
blood  of  his  subjects,  he  must  also  adopt  the  policy 
of  him  whose  place  he  has  taken,  and  follow  the 
same  course  in  the  government  of  his  realm." — It 
was  the  application  of  this  maxim  which  gave  Flor- 
ence to  the  Medici.  Cosmo  I.,  the  successor  of 
Duke  Alessandro,  procured  the  assassination  of  the 
Florentine  Brutus  at  Venice,  after  eleven  years,  and, 
as  we  have  said  heretofore,  persecuted  the  Strozzi 
without  respite.  It  was  neglect  of  this  maxim 
which  destroyed  Louis  XVI.  That  king  was  false 
to  all  principles  of  government  when  he  rehabili- 
tated the  parliaments,  which  his  grandfather  sup- 
pressed. Louis  XV. 's  judgment  was  sound.  The 
parliaments,  notably  that  of  Paris,  were  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  troubles  which  necessitated  the 
convocation  of  the  States-General.  The  mistake 
that  Louis  XV.  made  was  in  removing  the  barrier 
that  separated  the  throne  from  the  people,  and  in 
not  substituting  a  stronger  one, — in  a  word,  in  not 
replacing  the  parliaments  by  strong  provincial  gov- 
ernments. Therein  lay  the  remedy  for  the  evils  of 
monarchy, — the  voting  of  imposts,  their  adjustment, 
and  a  gradual  approval  of  the  necessary  reforms  in 
the  monarchical  regime. 

The  first  act  of  Henri  11.  was  to  give  his  confidence 
to  the  Constable  de  Montmorency,  whom  his  father 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  5 1 

had  urged  him  to  leave  in  disgrace.     The  constable     ) 
was,  conjointly  with  Diane  de  Poitiers,  with  whom    / 
he  was  closely  allied,  master  of  the  realm.     Thus,   ; 
Catherine  was  even  less  powerful  and  less  happy 
when  she  became   Queen  of    France  than  when 
she  was  dauphiness.     In  the  first  place,  beginning 
with  1543,  she  had  a  child  every  year  for  ten  years, 
and   was   engrossed    by    the   duties   of    maternity 
throughout  that  period,  which  includes  the  last  years     . 
of  Francois  I.  and  almost  the  whole  reign  of  Henri  II. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  see,  in  that  constant  procre- 
ation, the   influence  of  a  rival   who  selected  that 
method  of  ridding  herself  of  the  lawful  wife.     That 
barbarous    expedient   of    a   female    politician   was 
probably   one   of  Catherine's   principal  grievances 
against  Diane.     Being  thus  kept  aloof  from  affairs 
of  State,  that  superior  woman  passed  her  time  in         ; 
noting  the  interests  of  all  the  people  at  court,  and 
of  all  the  factions  which  were  constantly  forming  ]/ 

there.     All  the  Italians  who  had  come  to  France      .i---"   '^    ^  p[lj^ 
with  her  were   objects  of  violent  distrust.     After  ..^^^pv^^  ^''^ 

the  execution  of  Montecuculli,  the  Constable  de 
Montmorency,  Diane,  and  most  of  the  shrewd  poli- 
ticians of  the  court  were  assailed  by  suspicions  of 
the  Medici;  but  Francois  I.  always  refused  to  listen 
to  them.  But  the  Condi,  the  Biragues,  the  Strozzi, 
the  Ruggieri,  the  Sardini,  in  a  word,  all  those  who 
were  called  "  the  Italians,"  who  had  come  to  France  / 
in  Catherine's  suite,  were  required  to  put  forth  all  / 
their  resources  in  the  way  of  shrewd  wit,  political 
cunning,  and  courage,  to  maintain  their  footing  at     ; 


^- 


52  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

court  under  the  burden  of  disfavor  which  weighed 
upon  them. 

During  the  reign  of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  Catherine's 
affability  toward  the  favorite  went  so  far  that  clever 
persons  would  have  seen  therein  evidence  of  that 
profound  dissimulation  which  men,  events,  and  the 
conduct  of  Henri  II.  compelled  Catherine  to  display. 
They  have  gone  too  far  who  have  maintained  that 
she  never  asserted  her  rights  either  as  wife  or  as 
queen.  In  the  first  place,  the  sentiment  of  dignity, 
which  Catherine  possessed  in  the  highest  degree, 
forbade  her  to  claim  what  historians  call  the  rights 
of  a  wife.  Catherine's  eleven  confinements  and  ten 
children  sufficiently  explain  the  conduct  of  Henri, 
who  was  left  free  by  his  wife's  constant  pregnancy 
to  pass  his  time  with  Diane  de  Poitiers.  But  the 
king  certainly  fell  short  in  no  respect  of  what  he 
owed  himself;  he  provided  for  the  queen  an  entree 
worthy  to  be  ranked  with  all  those  which  had 
hitherto  taken  place,  for  her  coronation  as  queen. 
The  records  of  the  Parliament  and  of  the  Cour  des 
Comptes  indicate  that  both  those  great  bodies  went 
out  of  Paris  as  far  as  Saint-Lazare  to  meet  the 
queen.  We  quote  also  an  extract  from  the  narra- 
tive of  Du  Tillet: 

"  At  Saint-Lazare  a  platform  had  been  erected,  on 
which  was  a  throne  " — which  Du  Tillet  calls  a  chaire 
de  parement. — "  Catherine  took  her  place  thereon, 
clad  in  a  surcot,  or  sort  of  mantle  of  ermine,  covered 
with  precious  stones,  a  bodice  underneath  with  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  53 

royal  cape,  and  on  her  head  a  crown  studded  with  ,  l^^^-  ^ 

pearls   and  diamonds;    she  was   supported   by  the        ^*^  j        ^   "^ 
Marechale  de  la  Mark,  her  maid  of  honor.     Around       ''"^  c^-^^^*-^ 
her,  standing,  were  the  princes  of  the   blood  and 
other  princes  and  noblemen  richly  dressed,  with  the 
Chancellor  of  France,  dressed  in  a  robe  of  cloth  of 
gold,  with  figures  on  a  red  cramoisi*  background. 
In  front  of  the  queen,  on  the  same  platform,  were 
seated  in  two  rows  twelve  duchesses  or  countesses, 
dressed  in  ermine  surcots,  bodices,  cloaks,  and  cir- 
clets, that  is  to  say,  duchess's  or  countess's  coronets. 
They  were  the  Duchesses  d'Estouteville,  de  Mont- 
pensier,  elder  and  younger,  the  Princesse  de  la  Roche- 
sur-Yon;   the   Duchesses  de   Guise,  de   Nivernois, 
d'Aumale,  de  Valentinois — Diane  de  Poitiers; — Made^  ^' 
moiselle  la  batarde  legitimee  de  France — the  title  of  I    /       h   /  f^  ^ 
the  king's  daughter,  Diane,  who  was  Duchesse  de  |  "  ^)f '        '    " 
Castro-Farnese,  and  afterward  Duchesse  de  Mpnt-J     t^^^^'u^  ^ 
morency-Damville, — Madame    la    Connetable    and 
Mademoiselle  de  Nemours,  with  divers  other  noble 
damsels  for  whom  there  were  no  seats.     The  four 
presidents  a  mortier,  some  other  members  of  the  Par- 
liament, and  Du  Tillet  the  clerk  ascended  the  plat- 
form and  made  their  reverences,  whereupon  the  first 
president,  Lizet,  kneeling  on  one  knee,  addressed 
the  queen.     The  chancellor,  with  one  knee  on  the 
ground,  replied.     She  entered  the  city  in  an  open 
litter,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  having 
Madame   Marguerite  de   France   opposite   her,  and 

♦The  word  cramoisi — crimson — did  not  denote  color  simply,  it  also  expressed 
the  perfection  of  the  coloring. — See  Rabelais. 


54  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

riding  beside  her  open  litter,  Cardinals  d'Amboise, 
de  Chatillon,  de  Boulogne,  and  de  Lenoncourt  in 
their  rochets.  She  alighted  at  Notre-Dame  and  was 
received  there  by  the  clergy.  After  she  had  per- 
formed her  devotions,  she  was  escorted  through  Rue 
de  la  Calandre  to  the  Palace,  where  the  royal  supper 
was  prepared  in  the  great  banqueting-hall.  She  sat 
at  the  centre  of  the  marble  table,  under  a  velvet 
canopy  studded  with  gold  fleurs-de-lis." 

This  is  a  fitting  place  to  demolish  one  of  those 
erroneous  popular  ideas  which  some  persons  have 
held,  following  the  lead  of  Sauval.  It  is  alleged  that 
Henri  II.  carried  his  disregard  of  the  proprieties  so 
far  as  to  put  his  mistress's  cipher  on  the  monuments 
which,  by  Catherine's  advice,  he  began  or  continued 
on  such  a  magnificent  scale.  But  the  double  cipher 
which  can  be  seen  at  the  Louvre  gives  the  lie  every 
day  to  those  who  are  so  short-sighted  as  to  repeat 
the  absurd  stories  which  unjustly  dishonor  the  mem- 
ories of  our  kings  and  queens.  The  H  of  Henri, 
and  the  two  C's  of  Catherine,  back  to  back,  seem 
to  form  two  D's  for  Diane.  The  coincidence  may 
well  have  been  gratifying  to  Henri  II.,  but  it  is  true, 
none  the  less,  that  the  royal  cipher  is  actually  made 
up  of  the  king's  initial  and  the  queen's.  Indeed,  the 
same  cipher  may  still  be  seen  on  the  column  of  the 
Wheat  Market,  which  was  built  by  Catherine  alone. 
The  cipher  may  also  be  seen  in  the  vaults  of  Saint- 
Denis,  on  the  tomb  which  Catherine  caused  to  be 
erected  in  her  lifetime,  beside  that  of  Henri  II.,  and 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  55 

on  which  she  is  represented,  carved  from  life  by  the 
sculptor  for  whom  she  posed. 

On  a  solemn  occasion,  when  he  started  on  his     ; 
expedition  to  Germany,  Henri  II.  declared  Catherine 
regent  during  his  absence,  as  well  as  in  case  of  his 
death;  it  was  on  March  25,  1552.     Catherine's  bit- 
terest enemy,  the  author  of  the  Discourse  concerning    \        -j/,., 
the  Marvellous  Conduct  of  Catherine  II.,  agrees  that    ; 
she  acquitted  herself  of  her  duties  as  regent  in  such  a 
way  as  to  win  universal  praise,  and  that  the  king  was 
satisfied  with  her  administration.     Henri  11.  received 
men  and  money  when  they  were  needed.  And,  after 
the  fatal  day  of  Saint-Quentin,  Catherine  obtained  a 
considerable  sum  from  the  Parisians,  which  she  sent 
to  Compiegne,  where  the  king  then  was. 

In  politics,  Catherine  made  extraordinary  efforts 
to  obtain  a  little  influence.  She  was  clever  enough 
to  enlist  the  constable,  who  was  all-powerful  under 
Henri  II.,  in  her  interest.  Everyone  knows  the  ' 
crushing  reply  which  the  king  made  when  annoyed 
by  Montmorency.  That  reply  was  the  result  of  the 
sound  advice  given  by  Catherine  in  the  few  mo- 
ments when  she  was  alone  with  the  king,  and  when 
she  described  to  him  the  Florentine  policy,  which 
was  to  set  the  great  men  of  the  realm  against  one 
another,  and  to  establish  the  royal  authority  upon 
their  ruins — the  system  of  Louis  XL,  continued  by 
her  and  by  Richelieu.  Henri  IL,  who  saw  only 
through  the  eyes  of  Diane  and  the  constable,  was 
a  typical  feudal  king,  and  friendly  to  the  great  fami- 
lies of  his  kingdom. 


56  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

After  the  futile  attempt  made  by  the  constable  in 
her  favor,  which  belongs  to  the  year  1556,  Cath- 
erine made  pronounced  advances  to  the  Guises  and 
formed  the  plan  of  detaching  them  from  Diane's 
party  in  order  to  oppose  them  to  the  constable.  But, 
unluckily,  Diane  and  the  constable  were  quite  as 
bitter  against  the  Protestants  as  the  Guises  them- 
selves. So  that  the  conflict  between  them  lacked 
that  intense  animosity  which  the  religious  ques- 
tion would  have  inspired.  Moreover,  Diane  openly 
thwarted  the  queen's  plans  by  coquetting  with  the 
Guises  and  giving  her  daughter  to  the  Due  d'Au- 
male.  She  went  so  far  that  some  authors  claim 
that  she  accorded  more  than  her  good  graces  to  the 
amorous  Cardinal  de  Lorraine.  The  satirists  of  the 
time  evolved  the  following  quatrain  on  Henry  11.: 

"  Sire,  si  vous  laissez,  comme  Charles*  dfeire, 
Comme  Diane  veut,  par  trop  vous  gouverner, 
Fondre,  petrir,  mollir,  refondre,  retourner. 
Sire,  vous  n'etes  plus,  vous  n'etes  plus  que  cire."t 

It  is  impossible  to  regard  Catherine's  ostentatious 
grief  and  regret  at  the  death  of  Henri  II.  as  sin- 
cere. The  very  fact  that  the  king  was  bound  by  an 
unalterable  passion  to  Diane  de  Poitiers  required 
Catherine  to  play  the  part  of  a  neglected  wife  who 
adores  her  husband;  but,  like  all  women  of  brains, 

*  The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine. 

t"  An,  Sire,  you  should  allow,  and  plain  'tis  Charles'  desire. 
No  less  than  Diane's  aim,  your  will  to  be  fast  bound. 
And  shaped,  restiaped,  and  kneaded  o'er,  and  twisted  round. 
Then  Sire,  you're  but— aye,  naught  but  pliant  wax  then.  Sire." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  57 

she  persisted  in  her  dissimulation  and  never  failed  to 
speak  affectionately  of  Henri  II.  As  is  well  known, 
Diane  wore  mourning  all  her  life  for  her  husband, 
Monsieur  de  Breze.  Her  colors  were  black  and  white, 
and  the  king  wore  them  at  the  tourney  at  which  he 
was  killed.  Catherine,  doubtless  in  imitation  of  her 
rival,  wore  mourning  all  her  life  for  Henri  II.  She 
treated  Diane  de  Poitiers  with  a  refinement  of  per- 
fidy to  which  historians  have  paid  no  attention. 
After  the  king's  death,  the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois 
fell  into  utter  disgrace  and  was  abandoned  in  the 
most  dastardly  fashion  by  the  constable,  a  man 
altogether  inferior  to  his  reputation.  Diane  offered 
the  queen  her  estate  and  chateau  of  Chenonceaux. 
Whereupon  Catherine  said,  in  the  presence  of  wit- 
nesses: "I  cannot  forget  that  she  made  my  dear 
Henri  happy;  I  am  ashamed  to  accept  Chenonceaux 
without  giving  another  estate  in  exchange,  and  I 
suggest  Chaumont-sur-Loire." — The  papers  con- 
firming the  exchange  were  passed  at  Blois  in  1559. 
Diane,  whose  daughters  were  married  to  the  Due 
d'Aumale  and  the  Due  de  Bouillon,  then  a  sovereign 
prince,  retained  her  whole  fortune  and  died  peace- 
fully, in  1566,  at  the  age  of  sixty -six.  She  was, 
therefore,  nineteen  years  older  than  Henri  II.  These 
dates,  taken  from  the  epitaph  which  the  historian 
who  wrote  about  her  toward  the  end  of  the  last 
century  copied  from  her  tomb,  throw  light  upon 
many  historical  difficulties;  for  some  historians  as- 
serted that  she  was  forty,  others  sixteen,  at  the  time 
of  her  father's  sentence  in   1523.     She  was  then 


58  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

twenty-four  years  old.  After  having  read  every- 
thing, for  and  against  her  conduct  toward  Francois  I., 
at  the  moment  when  the  family  of  Poitiers  was  in 
such  dire  peril,  we  do  not  feel  justified  in  reaffirming 
or  contradicting  anything.  It  is  one  of  those  episodes 
which  must  remain  obscure.  We  can  see,  by  what 
takes  place  in  our  own  days,  that  facts  are  perverted 
the  instant  they  occur. 

Catherine,  who  based  great  hopes  on  her  rival's 
age,  had  tried  several  times  to  destroy  her  power. 
It  was  a  horrible,  underground  struggle.  One  day, 
Catherine  was  on  the  point  of  realizing  her  hopes. 
In  1554,  Madame  Diane,  being  indisposed,  urged  the 
king  to  go  to  Saint-Germain  while  she  was  getting 
better.  That  haughty  coquette  did  not  choose  to  be 
seen  surrounded  by  the  appliances  required  by  the 
physicians,  and  without  the  prestige  of  fine  raiment. 
Catherine  organized  for  the  king's  reception  on  his 
return  a  magnificent  ballet  performance,  in  the  course 
of  which  six  young  women  recited  a  piece  of  poetry. 
She  chose  for  the  six  young  women.  Miss  Fleming, 
a  kinswoman  of  her  uncle  the  Duke  of  Albany,  the 
loveliest  creature  imaginable,  a  perfect  blonde;  Cla- 
rice Strozzi,  a  relative  of  her  own,  a  magnificent 
Italian  beauty  with  superb  black  -hair  and  wonder- 
fully beautiful  hands;  Mademoiselle  Lewiston,  maid 
of  honor  to  Mary  Stuart;  Mary  Stuart  herself;  Madame 
Elisabeth  of  France,  the  ill-fated  Queen  of  Spain,  and 
Madame  Claude.  Elisabeth  was  nine  years  old, 
Claude  eight,  Mary  Stuart  twelve.  The  queen 
evidently  intended  to  give  prominence  to  Clarice 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  59 

Strozzi  and  Miss  Fleming  and  to  offer  them  without 
rivals  to  the  king's  favor.  The  king  did  not  resist; 
he  fell  in  love  with  Miss  Fleming,  he  had  by  her  a 
natural  child,  Henri  de  Valois,  Comte  d'Angoul^me, 
Grand  Prior  of  France.  But  Diane's  credit  and  in- 
fluence were  not  shaken.  Like  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour, at  a  later  period,  the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois 
forgave.  But  what  sort  of  love  on  Catherine's  part 
did  that  manoeuvre  indicate, — love  of  power,  or  love 
of  her  husband?  The  ladies  may  decide  the  question. 
We  hear  a  great  deal  to-day  of  the  license  of  the 
press;  but  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  far  it  was 
carried  in  the  early  days  of  printing.  In  the  first 
place,  we  know  that  Aretino,  the  Voltaire  of  his  time, 
made  kings  tremble  on  their  thrones,  Charles  V. 
first  of  all.  But  it  may  not  be  so  generally  known 
how  far  pamphleteers  carried  their  audacity.  The 
chateau  of  Chenonceaux  was  given  to  Diane — no, 
not  given,  she  was  begged  to  accept  it — ^to  help  her 
to  forget  one  of  the  most  outrageous  publications 
which  was -ever  issued  against  a  woman,  and  which 
shows  the  relentless  fierceness  of  the  war  between 
her  and  Madame  d'Etampes.  In  1537,  when  she 
was  thirty-eight  years  old,  a  poet  of  Champagne, 
named  Jean  Voute,  published  a  collection  of  Latin 
poems  containing  three  epigrams  aimed  at  her.  We 
can  but  believe  that  the  poet  was  assured  of  protec- 
tion in  high  places,  for  his  collection  is  prefaced  by 
a  eulogy  of  himself  written  by  Salmon  Macrin,  the 
king's  first  valet  de  chambre.     Of  those  epigrams,  y 

which  were  entitled  IN  PICTAVIAM,  ANUM  AULICAM, — 


60  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

AGAINST  La  POITIERS,  AN  OLD  FEMALE  COURTIER, 
— the  following  is  the  only  passage  fit  to  be  quoted 
to-day: 

"Non  trahit  esca  ficta  prcedatn." 

"A  painted  bait  attracts  no  game,"  says  the  poet, 
after  alleging  that  she  painted  her  face,  and  pur- 
chased her  teeth  and  her  hair.  "And  even  though 
you  purchase,"  he  adds,  "the  cream  of  everything 
that  makes  a  woman,  you  will  not  obtain  what  you 
desire  from  your  lover,  for  to  do  that  one  must  be 
alive,  and  you  are  dead." 

This  collection,  printed  by  Simon  de  Colines,  was 
dedicated  TO  A  BISHOP!— to  Francois  Bohier,  the 
brother  of  the  man  who,  to  save  his  credit  at  court 
and  atone  for  his  crime,  offered  Henri  II.,  on  his  ac- 
cession, the  chateau  of  Chenonceaux,  built  by  his 
father,  Thomas  Bohier,  Councillor  of  State  under 
four  kings:  Louis  XL,  Charles  VIII.,  Louis  XII.,  and 
Francois  I.  What  were  the  pamphlets  published 
against  Madame  de  Pompadour  and  Marie-Antoi- 
nette, compared  to  verses  which  one  would  say 
were  written  by  Martial !  This  VoOte  must  have 
come  to  a  bad  end.  Thus  the  estate  and  chateau  of 
Chenonceaux  cost  Diane  nothing  more  than  forgive- 
ness of  an  insult,  which  the  Gospel  enjoins!  As  they 
were  not  assessed  by  a  jury,  the  penalties  inflicted 
on  the  press  were  somewhat  more  severe  than  those 
of  to-day. 

The  queens  of  France,  when  widowed,  are  sup- 
posed to  remain  in  the  king's  apartment  for  forty 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  6l 

days,  without  other  light  than  that  of  the  tapers; 
they  do  not  come  forth  until  after  the  interment. 
This  inviolable  custom  was  exceedingly  distasteful 
to  Catherine,  who  feared  intrigues:  she  found  a 
way  to  evade  it.  It  was  this.  Early  one  morning, 
as  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine — at  such  a  crisis! — was 
leaving  the  house  of  La  Belle  Romaine,  a  famous 
courtesan  of  the  time  of  Henri  II.,  who  lived  on  Rue 
Culture  Saint-Catherine,  he  was  roughly  handled 
by  a  party  of  libertines.  "Whereat  His  Eminence, 
being  greatly  astonished,"  says  Henri  Estienne, 
"  declared  that  the  heretics  were  lying  in  wait  for 
him." — And,  upon  that  pretext,  the  court  went 
from  Paris  to  Saint-Germain.  The  queen  did  not 
choose  to  be  separated  from  the  king,  her  son,  and 
betook  herself  thither. 

The  accession  of  Francois  II.,  to  which  Cather- 
ine had  looked  forward  as  the  time  when  the  reins 
of  power  would  fall  into  her  hands,  was  a  moment  of 
disappointment  which  came  as  a  cruel  climax  to  the 
twenty-six  years  of  chagrin  she  had  already  passed 
at  the  French  court.  The  Guises  at  once  seized 
upon  the  government  with  incredible  presumption: 
the  Due  de  Guise  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
army,  the  constable  was  disgraced,  the  cardinal 
managed  the  finances  and  the  clergy. 

Catherine  began  her  political  career  by  one  of 
those  dramas  which,  although  it  made  less  noise 
than  some  others,  was  none  the  less  horrible,  and 
accustomed  her,  doubtless,  to  the  terrible  emotions 
of  her  life.     While  seeming  to  be  in  accord  with  the 


62  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Guises,  she  tried  to  assure  her  triumph  by  gaining 
the  support  of  the  House  of  Bourbon.  Whether  it 
was  that  Catherine,  after  having  vainly  attempted 
the  most  violent  methods,  had  determined  to  resort 
to  jealousy  to  bring  the  king  to  her  feet,  or  whether 
it  seemed  to  her  a  cruel  fate  to  attain  her  second 
girlhood  without  having  known  genuine  love,  she 
displayed  the  liveliest  interest  in  a  nobleman  of  the 
royal  blood,  Francois  de  Vendome,  son  of  Louis  de 
VendSme — of  the  family  from  which  the  Bourbons 
sprung — and  Vidame  de  Chartres,  the  latter  being 
the  name  by  which  he  is  known  in  history.  Cath- 
erine's secret  hatred  of  Diane  was  revealed  in  many 
circumstances  to  which  historians,  engrossed  by 
political  affairs,  have  paid  no  attention.  Cath- 
erine's attachment  to  the  vidame  originated  in  an 
affront  which  that  young  man  put  upon  the  favorite. 
Diane  desired  the  most  honorable  alliances  for  her 
daughters,  who,  moreover,  were  descended  from  the 
oldest  nobility  of  the  realm.  She  was  especially 
ambitious  of  the  honor  of  a  marriage  with  the  House 
of  France:  a  proffer  of  the  hand  of  her  second 
daughter,  who  afterward  became  Duchesse  d'Au- 
male,  was  made  in  her  behalf  to  the  vidame,  whom 
Francois  I.  had  very  prudently  kept  in  an  im- 
poverished condition.  In  fact,  when  the  Vidame 
de  Chartres  and  the  Prince  de  Conde  came  to 
court,  Francois  gave  them — what.? — appointments 
as  chamberlains-in-ordinary,  with  an  allowance  of 
twelve  hundred  crowns,  which  were  commonly 
allotted  to  simple  gentlemen.     Although  Diane  de 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  63 

Poitiers  offered  immense  wealth,  some  valuable 
office  under  the  crown,  and  the  king's  favor,  the 
vidame  declined.  And  then  this  Bourbon,  who  had 
already  shown  a  factious  spirit,  married  Jeanne, 
daughter  of  the  Baron  d'Estissac,  by  whom  he  h^d 
no  children.  This  exhibition  of  pride  naturally  com-  ) 
mended  the  vidame  to  Catherine,  who  received  him  ! 
with  marked  favor,  and  made  of  him  a  devoted 
friend.  Historians  have  compared  the  last  Due  de 
Montmorency,  who  was  beheaded  at  Toulouse,  to  I 
the  Vidame  of  Chartres,  in  the  art  of  pleasing,  in  •; 
merit,  and  in  talent.  Henri  II.  gave  no  sign  of  '^ 
jealousy;  apparently  he  did  not  dream  that  a  queen  ] 
of  France  could  forget  what  she  owed  to  herself,  or 
that  a  Medici  could  forget  the  honor  a  Valois  had 
done  her.  When  the  queen  was  said  to  be  flirting 
with  the  Vidame  de  Chartres,  she  had  been  almost 
abandoned  by  the  king  since  the  birth  of  her  last 
child.  Thus  her  efforts  served  no  purpose,  for 
Henri  died  wearing  the  colors  of  Diane  de  Poitiers. 
At  the  king's  death,  Catherine  found  herself  in- 
volved in  a  liaison  with  the  vidame,  a  situation 
which  was  nothing  if  not  in  conformity  with  the 
morals  of  the  time,  when  love  was  at  once  so  chiv- 
alrous and  so  licentious,  that  the  noblest  actions 
were  as  natural  to  it  as  the  most  blameworthy;  but 
the  historians,  as  usual,  have  committed  the  error  of 
taking  the  exception  for  the  general  rule.  The  four 
sons  of  Henri  II.  crushed  the  prospects  of  the  Bour- 
bons, all  of  whom  were  exceedingly  poor,  and  over- 
whelmed  by  the  contempt  which  the  constable's 


64  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

treachery  had  brought  upon  them,  notwithstanding 
the  reasons  which  compelled  him  to  leave  the  king- 
dom. The  Vidame  de  Chartres,  who  was  to  the 
first  Prince  de  Conde  what  Richelieu  was  to  Maza- 
rin,  his  father  in  politics,  his  model,  and,  further- 
more, his  master  in  the  art  of  love,  concealed  the 
overweening  ambition  of  his  family  beqeath  a  friv- 
olous exterior.  As  he  was  in  no  position  to  contend 
with  the  Guises,  the  Montmorencys,  the  princes  of 
Scotland,  the  cardinals,  and  the  Bouillons,  he  was 
content  to  distinguish  himself  by  his  charming  man- 
ners and  by  his  wit,  which  won  for  him  the  favors  of 
the  loveliest  women,  and  the  hearts  of  some  of  whom 
he  never  thought.  He  was  a  privileged  man,  whose 
fascination  was  irresistible,  and  who  was  indebted 
to  love  for  the  means  of  maintaining  his  rank.  The 
Bourbons  would  not  have  lost  their  tempers  like 
Jarnac  at  La  Chataigneraie's  slander;  they  gladly 
accepted  estates  and  chateaux  from  their  mistresses; 
witness  the  Prince  de  Conde,  who  accepted  the 
estate  of  Saint-Valery  from  Madame  la  Marechale  de 
Saint-Andre. 

At  the  death  of  Henri  II.,  and  during  the  first  three 
weeks  of  mourning,  the  vidame's  position  suddenly 
changed.  Being  the  object  of  the  queen-mother's 
inclinations,  and  paying  court  to  her  with  the  utmost 
secrecy,  as  one  could  do  in  the  case  of  the  queen, 
he  seemed  destined  to  play  an  important  r61e,  and 
Catherine  did,  in  fact,  determine  to  make  use  of  him. 
He  received  from  her  letters  for  the  Prince  de  Conde, 
wherein  she  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  an  alliance 


IN  CATHERINE'S   CHAMBER 


The  Guises,  being  informed  of  this  intrigue, 
forced  their  way  i?tto  the  queen's  chamber  to  extort 
from  her  an  order  to  consign  the  vidame  to  the 
Bastille,  and  Catherine  was  reduced  to  the  dire 
necessity  of  complying. 


^^yUfU    l»ilS.iyil''jLmMt^     VM 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  65 

against  the  Guises.  The  Guises,  being  informed 
of  this  intrigue,  forced  their  way  into  the  queen's 
chamber  to  extort  from  her  an  order  to  consign  the 
vidame  to  the  Bastille,  and  Catherine  was  reduced 
to  the  dire  necessity  of  complying.  The  vidame 
died,  after  a  few  months  of  captivity,  on  the  day  that 
he  was  released  from  prison,  a  short  time  before 
the  conspiracy  of  Amboise.  Such  was  the  end  of 
Catherine  de'  Medici's  first  and  only  love-affair. 
Protestant  writers  have  said  that  the  queen  had  the 
vidame  poisoned  in  order  to  consign  to  the  tomb  the 
secret  of  her  amours! 

Such  was  that  woman's  apprenticeship  in  royal 
power. 


PART    FIRST 


THE   CALVINIST   MARTYR 
* 

Few  persons  know  to-day  how  plain  were  the 
dwellings  of  the  bourgeois  of  Paris  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  how  simple  was  their  life.  Perhaps 
this  very  simplicity  in  action  and  in  thought  was  the 
cause  of  the  grandeur  of  that  old  bourgeoisie,  which 
was  most  assuredly  great  and  noble  and  free — more 
so,  it  may  be,  than  the  bourgeoisie  of  to-day;  its 
history  is  still  to  be  written,  it  demands  and  awaits 
a  man  of  genius.  This  reflection,  inspired  by  the 
little-known  episode  which  forms  the  groundwork  of 
this  Study,  and  which  will  always  be  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  episodes  in  the  history  of  the  bour- 
geoisie, will  doubtless  come  to  every  mind  after 
reading  this  narrative.  Is  this  the  first  time  in 
history  that  the  conclusion  ever  preceded  the  facts.? 

In  1560,  the  houses  on  Rue  de  la  Vieille-Pelleterie 
lined  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  between  Pont  Notre- 
Dame  and  Pont  au  Change.  The  public  way  and 
the  houses  took  up  the  space  occupied  simply  by  the 
roadway  of  the  present  quay.  Every  house  was 
situated  directly  over  the  Seine,  so  that  the  occu- 
pants could  go  down  to  the  river  by  staircases  of 
(69) 


70  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

stone  or  wood,  protected  by  stout  iron  gratings,  or 
wooden  gates  studded  with  nails.  These  houses, 
like  the  houses  in  Venice,  had  one  door  on  land  and 
one  water-door.  At  the  moment  when  this  Study  is 
published,  there  exists  but  one  house  of  this  sort, 
which  can  remind  us  of  Paris  as  it  used  to  be,  and 
that  one  will  soon  disappear;  it  stands  at  the  corner 
of  the  Petit-Pont,  opposite  the  guard-house  of  the 
Hotel-Dieu.  Formerly,  every  house  presented  on  the 
river  side  the  curious  aspect  due  to  the  trade  of  its 
occupant  and  his  habits,  or  to  the  original  character 
of  the  structures  invented  by  the  proprietors  to  use 
or  abuse  the  Seine.  As  almost  all  the  bridges  were 
crowded  with  more  mills  than  the  necessities  of 
navigation  could  allow,  the  Seine  numbered  as  many 
mill-ponds  as  bridges  within  the  city  limits.  Some 
of  the  mill-ponds  of  that  old  Paris  would  have 
afforded  unique  tints  for  the  painter's  brush.  What 
a  forest  was  formed  by  the  interlaced  timbers  which 
supported  the  mills,  their  huge  floodgates  and  their 
wheels!  What  curious  effects  were  produced  by  the 
piles  employed  to  enable  the  building  to  encroach 
on  the  river!  Unfortunately,  genre  painting  did  not 
exist  at  that  time,  and  engraving  was  in  its  infancy; 
so  that  we  are  deprived  of  that  curious  spectacle, 
which  is  still  presented  on  a  very  small  scale  by 
certain  towns  in  the  provinces,  where  the  rivers 
are  indented  by  wooden  houses,  and  where,  as  at 
Vendome,  the  mill-ponds,  full  of  long  grass,  are 
divided  by  long  fences  corresponding  with  the  divi- 
sional lines  of  the  estates  on  the  two  banks. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  Jl 

The  name  of  this  street,  now  stricken  from  the 
map,  is  sufficiently  indicative  of  the  trade  that  was 
carried  on  there.  In  those  days,  the  merchants 
who  followed  the  same  trade,  instead  of  scattering 
through  the  city,  gathered  in  one  neighborhood  and 
thus  afforded  one  another  mutual  protection.  United 
socially  by  the  guild  which  limited  their  number, 
they  were  also  joined  in  brotherhood  by  the  Church. 
Thus  prices  were  maintained.  The  masters  were 
not  the  slaves  of  their  workmen,  and  did  not  obey 
their  slightest  caprices,  as  they  do  to-day;  on  the 
contrary,  they  took  care  of  them,  they  made  them 
their  children,  and  instructed  them  in  the  niceties  of 
their  work.  In  order  to  become  a  master,  a  work- 
man must  produce  one  masterpiece,  which  was  al- 
ways offered  to  the  patron  saint  of  the  guild.  Will 
you  whose  admiration  for  the  works  of  the  old 
masters  has  created  the  new  trade  of  dealers  in  bric- 
a-brac — will  you  dare  to  say  that  the  lack  of  com- 
petition weakened  the  sentiment  of  perfection  and 
interfered  with  the  beauty  of  the  products  of  the 
craftsmen  ? 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  the  fur- 
rier's trade  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  indus- 
tries. The  difficulty  of  obtaining  furs,  which,  being 
brought  from  the  far  North,  required  long  and  peril- 
ous voyages,  imparted  an  excessive  value  to  the 
products  of  the  industry.  Then,  as  now,  the  high 
price  spurred  on  consumption,  for  vanity  knows  no 
obstacles.  In  France  and  in  other  kingdoms,  not 
only  were  there  ordinances  reserving  to  the  nobility 


72  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  right  to  wear  furs, — a  fact  attested  by  the  promi- 
nent part  played  by  ermine  in  the  old  blazonry, — but 
certain  rare  furs,  like  the  vair,  which  beyond  doubt 
was  the  imperial  sable,  could  be  worn  only  by  kings, 
by  dukes,  and  by  noblemen  invested  with  certain 
high  offices.  There  was  a  distinction  between  the 
grand  vair  and  the  menu  vair.  This  word  has  gone 
out  of  use  so  entirely  in  the  last  hundred  years,  that 
in  an  endless  number  of  editions  of  Perrault's  Contes, 
Cinderella's  famous  slipper,  which  was  probably  of 
menu  vair,  is  said  to  have  been  of  verre — glass. 
Recently,  one  of  our  most  distinguished  poets  was 
obliged  to  re-establish  the  proper  orthography  of  this 
word  for  the  edification  of  his  confreres  the  writers 
of  feuilletons,  apropos  of  La  Cenerentola,  wherein  the 
symbolic  slipper  is  replaced  by  a  ring,  which  has  no 
significance. 

Naturally,  the  orders  concerning  the  wearing  of 
furs  were  continually  infringed,  to  the  great  satis- 
faction of  the  furriers.  The  high  price  of  cloths  and 
of  furs  made  a  garment  a  durable  article,  a  fitting 
companion  to  the  furniture,  the  armor,  and  the  other 
details  of  the  sturdy  life  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
All  noblemen,  all  noblewomen,  all  persons  of  wealth, 
like  every  bourgeois,  possessed  at  most  two  gar- 
ments for  each  season,  which  lasted  all  their  lives 
and  more.  These  garments  were  bequeathed  to 
their  children.  So  that  the  clause  relating  to  arms 
and  clothing  in  marriage-contracts,  to-day  jalmost 
useless  because  of  the  trifling  value  of  wardrobes 
constantly  renewed,  was   in   those  days   of   very 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  73 

great  importance.  High  prices  had  resulted  in  dura- 
bility. A  woman's  wardrobe  constituted  a  large 
capital,  which  was  always  counted  in  inventories  of 
household  effects,  and  was  packed  in  those  immense 
chests  which  threaten  disaster  to  the  ceilings  of  our 
modern  apartments.  The  full  dress  of  a  woman  in 
1840  would  have  been  the  deshabille  of  a  great  lady 
of  1540.  To-day,  the  discovery  of  America,  the 
facility  of  transportation,  the  demolition  of  social 
distinctions  which  has  paved  the  way  for  the  de- 
molition of  apparent  distinctions, — all  have  com- 
bined to  reduce  the  fur  trade  to  its  present  condi- 
tion, to  almost  nothing.  The  article  which  a  furrier 
sells  to-day,  as  formerly,  for  twenty  livres — ^francs — 
has  followed  the  decline  in  the  value  of  money; 
formerly  the  livre  was  worth  more  than  twenty 
francs  of  our  present  money.  The  petty  bourgeoise 
or  the  courtesan,  who  has  fur  trimming  on  her  cloak 
to-day,  has  no  idea  that  in  1440  an  ill-humored  police- 
man would  have  arrested  her  incontinently  and  haled 
her  before  the  magistrate  at  the  Chatelet.  The 
Englishwomen,  who  are  so  wild  over  ermine,  do  not 
know  that  in  old  times  only  queens,  duchesses,  and 
chancellors  of  France  could  wear  that  royal  fur. 
There  exist  to-day  several  noble  families  whose  real 
name  is  Pelletier  or  Lepelletier — Furrier — and  who 
evidently  owe  their  origin  to  some  wealthy  fur  house, 
for  the  majority  of  bourgeois  names  began  by  being 
sobriquets. 

This  digression  will  explain  not  only  the  endless 
quarrels  during  two  centuries  concerning  precedence 


74  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDIO 

between  the  guild  of  drapers  and  the  guild  of  furriers 
and  mercers, — each  of  them  insisted  on  marching 
first  as  being  the  most  important  guild  in  Paris, — 
but  also  the  influential  position  of  Sieur  Lecamus, 
furrier,  honored  with  the  custom  of  two  queens, 
Catherine  de'  Medici  and  Mary  Stuart,  with  the 
custom  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  and  for  twenty 
years  syndic  of  his  guild,  who  lived  on  that  street. 
Lecamus's  house  was  one  of  the  three  which 
formed  the  three  corners  of  the  square  at  the  end 
of  Pont  au  Change,  of  which  naught  remains  to-day 
save  the  tower  of  the  old  Palais  de  Justice  which 
formed  the  fourth  corner.  At  the  angle  of  that 
house,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Pont  au  Change 
and  of  the  quay  which  is  to-day  called  Quai  aux 
Fleurs,  the  architect  had  made  a  recess  for  a  Ma- 
donna, which  was  always  lighted  by  tapers  and 
adorned  with  bouquets  of  real  flowers  in  summer 
and  of  artificial  flowers  in  winter.  On  Rue  du  Pont 
as  well  as  on  Rue  de  la  Vieille-Pelleterie,  the  house 
rested  on  wooden  pillars.  All  the  houses  in  the 
tradesmen's  quarters  had  behind  these  pillars  a 
gallery,  where  pedestrians  walked  under  cover  on 
the  bare  ground,  hardened  by  the  mud  which  they 
left  upon  it  and  which  made  it  decidedly  rough.  In 
all  the  cities  of  France,  these  galleries  were  called 
tlie  pillars,  a  generic  term  to  which  was  added  a 
qualifying  phrase,  according  to  the  trade  of  the 
quarter,  as  the  pillars  of  the  Market,  the  pillars  of 
the  Butchery.  These  galleries,  which  were  made 
necessary  by  the  changeable,  rainy  atmosphere  of 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  75 

Paris,  and  which  were  a  prominent  feature  in  the 
physiognomy  of  the  city,  have  entirely  disappeared. 
Just  as  there  is  no  longer  a  single  house  directly 
over  the  river,  so  there  are  barely  a  hundred  feet 
remaining  of  the  old  pillars  of  the  Market,  which 
longest  resisted  the  inroads  of  time;  and  in  a  few 
days  even  that  remnant  of  the  gloomy  labyrinth  of 
old  Paris  will  be  demolished.  Assuredly,  the  con- 
tinued existence  of  these  relics  of  the  Middle  Ages  is 
incompatible  with  the  grandeurs  of  modern  Paris. 
So  that  these  observations  are  intended  less  as  an 
expression  of  regret  for  these  fragments  of  the  old 
city  than  as  an  attempt  to  preserve  their  likeness 
by  the  last  living  evidence,  now  on  the  point  of 
crumbling  to  dust,  and  to  absolve  the  future,  which 
treads  upon  the  heels  of  the  present  century,  from 
the  necessity  of  seeking  descriptions. 

The  walls  of  the  house  in  question  were  built  of 
wood  and  covered  with  slates.  The  intervals  be- 
tween the  pieces  of  wood  had  been  filled  with  bricks 
laid  crosswise,  so  as  to  form  the  design  called  Hun- 
gary point;  the  same  thing  can  still  be  seen  in 
some  old  provincial  towns.  The  window-sills  and 
lintels,  also  of  wood,  were  richly  carved,  as  was  the 
pillar  at  the  corner  above  the  Madonna,  and  the  pil- 
lars of  the  shop  front.  Each  window  and  each  of 
the  beams  which  separated  the  different  floors  were 
adorned  with  arabesques  of  fantastic  persons  or  ani- 
mals surrounded  by  conventional  foliage.  On  the 
street  side,  as  well  as  on  the  river,  the  roof  of  the 
house  was  shaped  like  two  cards  placed  against  each 


76  CATHERINE   DE*  MEDICI 

other;  that  is  to  say,  there  was  a  gable  end  on  the 
street  and  a  gable  end  on  the  water.  The  roof,  like 
the  roof  of  a  Swiss  chalet,  overhung  so  far  that  there 
was  an  outer  gallery  on  the  second  floor,  with  a  bal- 
ustrade, where  the  furrier  could  walk  under  cover, 
overlooking  the  whole  street  on  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  the  basin  between  the  two  bridges  and  the  two 
rows  of  houses. 

The  houses  on  the  river  were  at  that  time  very 
valuable.  The  system  of  drains  and  running  water 
was  still  a  thing  of  the  future;  there  was  only  the 
drain  running  around  the  city,  finished  by  Aubriot, 
the  first  man  of  genius  and  powerful  will  who  ever 
thought — he  lived  under  Charles  V. — of  improving 
the  sanitary  condition  of  Paris.  Houses  situated  as 
was  Lecamus's  found  in  the  river  both  the  water 
necessary  to  life  and  a  natural  outlet  for  the  rain- 
water and  domestic  waste.  The  vast  works  of  that 
nature  which  the  provosts  of  the  merchants  con- 
structed are  also  disappearing.  Only  those  who  are 
more  than  forty  years  old  can  remember  having  seen 
the  bottomless  pits  in  which  the  waters  were  swal- 
lowed up,  on  Rue  Montmartre,  Rue  du  Temple,  etc. 
Those  terrifying,  yawning  holes  did  an  immense 
amount  of  good  in  those  old  times.  Their  location 
will  in  all  probability  be  permanently  marked  by  the 
sudden  caving  in  of  the  roadway  at  the  spots  where 
they  opened:  another  archaeological  detail  that  will 
be  inexplicable  to  the  historian  two  centuries  hence. 
One  day,  in  1816  or  thereabouts,  a  little  girl  who 
was   carrying  to   an   actress    at   the   Ambigu   the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  JJ 

diamonds  she  was  to  wear  in  the  part  of  a  queen, 
was  overtaken  by  a  heavy  shower,  and  drawn  down 
into  the  old  drain  on  Rue  du  Temple,  where  she 
would  have  disappeared  had  not  the  attention  of  a 
passer-by  been  attracted  by  her  shrieks;  but  she 
had  dropped  the  diamonds,  which  were  found  in  a 
draught-hole.  That  incident  caused  a  great  deal  of 
talk;  it  gave  force  to  the  demand  for  the  suppression 
of  those  consumers  of  water  and  little  girls.  They 
were  curious  affairs,  about  five  feet  deep,  with  mov- 
able gratings  or  wire-nettings,  which  caused  the 
flooding  of  the  cellars  when  the  artificial  river  pro- 
duced by  a  heavy  downpour  could  find  no  outlet 
through  the  grating,  blocked  with  rubbish  and  filth, 
which  the  abutters  often  forgot  to  raise. 

The  front  of  Sieur  Lecamus's  shop  was  of  glass, 
but  was  embellished  with  lead  sashes  which  made 
the  interior  very  dark.  The  furs  were  carried  to 
the  houses  of  the  wealthy  customers.  To  those 
who  came  to  the  shop  to  buy,  the  wares  were 
shown  out-of-doors,  between  the  pillars,  where  the 
passage-way  was  always  blocked  during  the  day  by 
tables,  and  clerks  seated  on  stools,  as  could  be  seen 
under  the  pillars  of  the  market  fifteen  years  ago. 
From  those  advanced  positions,  the  clerks  and  ap- 
prentices, male  and  female,  talked,  exchanged  ques- 
tions and  answers,  and  accosted  those  who  passed — 
customs  of  which  the  great  Sir  Walter  Scott  made 
^use  in  his  Adventures  of  Nigel.  The  sign,  which  rep- 
resented an  ermine,  hung  outside,  like  those  of  some 
village  taverns,  and  was  attached  to  an  open-work 


78  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

iron  post,  richly  gilded.     Above  the  ermine,  on  one 
side,  were  the  words: 

LECAMVS 
FURRIER 

To  Madame  la  Royne  and  le  Roy 
NOSTRE  Sire; 

and  on  the  other : 

To  Madame  la  Royne  Mere  and  Messievrs 
DV  Parlement 

The  words  to  Madame  la  Royne  Mere  had  been 
added  quite  recently.  The  gilding  was  new.  The 
change  indicated  the  recent  revolution  produced  by 
the  sudden  violent  death  of  Henri  II.,  which  over- 
turned many  fortunes  at  court,  and  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fortune  of  the  Guises. 

The  back-shop  looked  on  the  river.  In  that  room 
the  venerable  bourgeois  and  his  wife,  Mademoiselle 
Lecamus,  were  usually  to  be  found.  In  those  days, 
the  wife  of  a  man  who  was  not  nobly  born  had  no 
right  to  the  title  of  dame;  but  the  wives  of  the  bour- 
geois of  Paris  were  entitled  to  be  called  demoiselle, 
by  reason  of  the  privileges  granted  and  confirmed  to 
their  husbands  by  several  kings  to  whom  they  had 
rendered  eminent  services.  Between  the  back-shop 
and  the  wareroom  was  a  wooden  spiral  staircase, 
which  gave  access  to  the  upper  floors  where  the 
large  wareroom  was  and  the  apartment  of  the  old 
couple,  and  to  the  attic   rooms   lighted   by  round 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  79 

windows,  where  the  children,  the  maid-servant,  and 
the  clerks  and  apprentices  lived. 

This  crowding  together  of  families,  servants,  and 
apprentices,  and  the  small  spaces  occupied  by  each 
person  inside  the  house,  where  the  apprentices  slept 
together  in  a  large  room  under  the  eaves,  explains 
the  enormous  population  of  Paris  which  was  then 
massed  upon  a  tenth  of  the  territory  covered  by  the 
present  city;  the  curious  details  of  private  life  in  the 
Middle  Ages;  and  the  stratagems  of  love,  which, 
with  all  deference  to  serious  historians,  can  be  found 
only  in  the  romancers,  and  which  would  have  been 
lost  but  for  them.  At  that  period,  a  very  great  noble- 
man, like  Admiral  de  Coligny,  for  instance,  occupied 
three  rooms  in  Paris,  and  his  retinue  was  quartered 
at  a  public-house  near  by.  There  were  not  then  in 
all  Paris  fifty  hotels, — that  is  to  say,  palaces  belong- 
ing to  sovereign  princes,  or  to  great  vassals,  who 
lived  more  sumptuously  than  the  greatest  German 
sovereigns,  like  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  or  the  Elector 
of  Saxony. 

The  kitchen  of  the  Lecamus  establishment  was 
under  the  back-shop,  directly  on  the  river.  It  had 
a  glass  door  opening  on  a  sort  of  iron  balcony  from 
which  the  cook  could  draw  water  with  a  pail,  and 
where  the  family  linen  was  washed.  The  back-shop 
was  the  merchant's  dining-room,  study,  and  salon, 
all  in  one.  In  that  important  apartment,  which  was 
always  noticeable  for  its  handsome  wainscoting,  and 
embellished  with  some  object  of  art,  and  a  chest,  the 
merchant's  life  was  passed ;   it  was  the  scene  of 


80  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  merry  suppers  after  the  day's  work,  and  of  the 
secret  conferences  concerning  the  political  interests 
of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  monarchy.  The  powerful 
guilds  of  Paris  could  at  that  time  equip  a  hundred 
thousand  men  for  war.  The  decisions  of  the  mer- 
chants were  supported  by  their  servants,  their  clerks, 
their  apprentices,  and  their  workmen.  The  bour- 
geois had,  in  the  provost  of  merchants,  a  leader 
whom  they  obeyed,  and  in  the  Hotel  de  Ville  a  pal- 
ace where  they  had  the  right  to  assemble.  In  that 
famous  parlouer  aux  bourgeois  solemn  deliberations 
were  held.  Except  for  the  constant  sacrifices  which 
had  made  war  unendurable  to  the  guilds,  exhausted 
by  their  losses  and  by  famine,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  Henri  IV.,  that  rebellious  subject  become 
king  at  last,  would  ever  have  entered  Paris. 

The  reader  will  find  no  difficulty  now  in  picturing 
to  himself  that  corner  of  old  Paris  where  the  bridge 
and  the  quay  wind  to-day,  where  the  trees  of 
the  Quai  aux  Fleurs  rear  their  heads,  and  where 
naught  remains  to  remind  one  of  that  time  save  the 
famous  high  tower  of  the  old  Palais  de  Justice, 
which  gave  the  signal  for  the  Saint-Bartholomew. 
Strangely  enough,  one  of  the  houses  lying  at  the  foot 
of  that  tower,  then  surrounded  by  wooden  shops, 
the  house  of  *Lecamus,  was  destined  to  see  the 
beginning  of  one  of  those  episodes  which  paved  the 
way  for  that  night  of  massacres,  unhappily  more 
favorable  than  fatal  to  Calvinism. 

At  the  time  when  this  narrative  begins,  Paris  was 
intensely  excited  over  the  audacity  of  the  professors 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  8l 

of  the  new  religious  doctrines.  A  Scotchman  named 
Stuart  had  murdered  President  Minard,  that  one  of 
the  members  of  the  Parliament  to  whom  public 
opinion  attributed  the  largest  share  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  fellow-member  Anne  du  Bourg,  recently 
burned  in  Place  de  Grdve,  after  the  late  king's 
tailor,  whom  Henri  II.  and  Diane  de  Poitiers  had 
caused  to  be  put  to  the  question  in  their  presence. 
Paris  was  so  closely  watched  that  the  archers  com- 
pelled passers-by  to  pray  before  the  Madonna,  in 
order  to  detect  heretics,  who  either  complied  with 
bad  grace,  or  refused  altogether  to  perform  an  act  so 
opposed  to  their  ideas.  The  two  archers  who  had 
been  standing  at  the  corner  of  Lecamus's  house  had 
gone  away;  so  that  Christophe,  the  furrier's  son, 
who  was  strongly  suspected  of  having  turned  his 
back  on  Catholicism,  was  able  to  go  out  without 
the  fear  that  they  would  force  him  to  pray  to  the 
image  of  the  Virgin.  It  was  beginning  to  grow  dark 
at  seven  o'clock  in  April,  1560,  and  the  appren- 
tices, seeing  that  only  a  few  people  were  still  pass- 
ing under  the  pillars  on  both  sides  of  the  street, 
were  removing  the  merchandise  displayed  outside 
as  samples,  preparatory  to  closing  the  house  and 
the  shop.  Christophe  Lecamus,  an  ardent  youth 
of  twenty-two,  stood  in  the  doorway,  apparently 
absorbed  in  watching  the  apprentices. 

"  Monsieur,"   said   one  of  them  to  Christophe, 

pointing  to  a  man  who  was  walking  back  and  forth 

under  the  gallery  with  a  hesitating  air,  "  that  fellow 

may  be  a  thief  or  a  spy;  at  all  events,  he  can't  be 

6 


82  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

an -honest  man:  if  he  had  any  business  with  us,  he 
would  come  up  and  speak  to  us  openly,  instead 
of  hanging  back  as  he  does.  And  what  a  way  of 
carrying  himself!"  he  added,  imitating  the  stranger. 
"  How  he  hides  his  face  in  his  cloak!  What  a  yellow 
eye!     What  a  hungry  look!" 

When  the  stranger  thus  described  by  the  appren- 
tice saw  that  Christophe  was  alone  in  the  doorway, 
he  hurriedly  left  the  gallery  opposite,  where  he  was 
walking,  crossed  the  street,  and  as  he  passed  under 
the  pillars  by  Lecamus's  shop,  before  the  apprentices 
had  returned  to  close  the  shutters,  he  accosted  the 
young  man. 

"  I  am  Chaudieu!"  he  said  in  an  undertone. 

When  he  heard  the  name  of  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated leaders  and  most  devoted  actors  in  the  terrible 
drama  called  the  Reformation,  Christophe  started  as 
a  faithful  peasant  would  have  started  on  recognizing 
his  king  in  disguise. 

"Do  you  wish  to  look  at  furs?  Although  it's 
almost  dark,  I  will  show  you  some  myself,"  said 
Christophe,  to  deceive  the  apprentices  whom  he 
heard  behind  him. 

With  a  gesture,  he  invited  the  reformer  to  enter. 
But  he  replied  that  he  preferred  to  talk  outside. 
Christophe  went  in  to  get  his  cap,  and  followed  the 
disciple  of  Calvin. 

Although  banished  by  royal  edict,  Chaudieu,  the 
secret  plenipotentiary  of  Theodore  de  B^ze  and 
Calvin,  who  directed  the  Reformation  in  France 
from  Geneva,  went  and  came  as  he  chose,  defying 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  83 

the  cruel  punishment  to  which  the  Parliament,  act- 
ing in  concert  with  the  Church  and  the  king  in  order 
to  make  a  terrible  example,  had  condemned  one  of 
its  own  members,  the  celebrated  Anne  du  Bourg. 
This  minister  of  the  faith,  whose  brother  was  a  cap- 
tain and  one  of  Admiral  de  Coligny's  best  soldiers, 
was  one  of  the  arms  with  which  Calvin  aroused 
France  at  the  beginning  of  the  twenty-two  years  of 
religious  wars,  then  about  to  be  inaugurated.  He 
was  one  of  those  secret  wheels  of  the  machine 
which  afford  the  best  explanation  of  the  mighty 
action  of  the  Reformation. 

Chaudieu  led  Christophe  to  the  water's  edge  by  a 
subterranean  passage  similar  to  that  of  the  Marion 
arch,  which  was  filled  in  ten  years  ago.  This  pas- 
sage, the  entrance  to  which  was  between  Lecamus's 
house  and  the  house  next  it,  ran  under  Rue  de  la 
Vieille-Pelleterie,  and  was  called  the  Pont-aux-Four- 
reurs.  It  was  used  by  the  dyers  of  the  city  to  go  to 
the  river  to  wash  their  threads,  their  silks,  and  their 
cloths.  A  small  boat  was  there,  in  the  charge  of  a 
single  boatman.  A  stranger,  small  of  stature  and 
very  simply  dressed,  sat  in  the  bow.  In  an  instant 
the  boat  was  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  the  boat- 
man guided  her  beneath  one  of  the  wooden  arches  of 
Pont  au  Change,  where  he  quickly  made  her  fast  to 
an  iron  ring.     As  yet  no  one  had  spoken. 

"  We  can  talk  here  without  fear,  there  are  neither 
spies  nor  traitors  within  hearing,"  said  Chaudieu, 
glancing  at  the  two  men  who  were  unknown  to 
Christophe. — "Are   you   filled  with  that  spirit  of 


84  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

self-sacrifice  which  inspires  martyrs?  Are  you  ready 
to  endure  everything  for  our  blessed  cause?  Do 
you  fear  the  tortures  undergone  by  the  late  king's 
tailor  and  by  Counsellor  du  Bourg, — tortures  which 
await  the  majority  of  us?"  he  asked  Christophe, 
turning  a  radiant  face  upon  him. 

**  I  will  confess  the  Gospel,"  replied  Lecamus, 
simply,  looking  at  the  windows  of  the  back-shop. 

The  light  of  the  lamp  on  the  table  at  which  his  father 
was  undoubtedly  looking  over  his  account-books 
reminded  him  by  its  gleam  of  the  domestic  joys 
and  the  tranquil  life  which  he  was  renouncing.  It 
was  a  swift  but  perfect  vision.  The  young  man's 
eyes  embraced  that  neighborhood  instinct  with  the 
harmonies  of  bourgeois  existence,  where  his  child- 
hood had  passed  so  happily,  where  Babette  Lallier, 
his  betrothed,  had  her  home,  where  everything 
promised  him  a  pleasant,  busy  life;  he  saw  the 
past,  he  saw  his  future,  and  he  sacrificed  every- 
thing, or  at  least  staked  everything.  Such  were 
the  men  of  those  days. 

"  We  need  go  no  farther,"  said  the  enthusiastic 
boatman;  "  we  know  him  now  for  one  of  our  saints! 
If  the  Scotchman  had  missed  his  mark,  he  would 
have  killed  the  infamous  Minard." 

"Yes,"  said  Lecamus.  "  My  life  belongs  to  the 
Church,  and  I  give  it  joyfully  for  the  triumph  of  the 
Reformation,  upon  which  I  have  reflected  in  all  seri- 
ousness. I  know  what  we  are  doing  for  the  welfare 
of  the  nations.  In  two  words,  Popery  enjoins  celi- 
bacy, the  Reformation  favors  the  family.     It  is  time 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  85 

to  rid  France  of  her  monks,  and  to  restore  their  prop- 
erty to  the  crown,  which  will  sell  it  sooner  or  later  to 
the  bourgeoisie.  Let  us  not  fear  to  die  for  our  chil- 
dren and  for  our  families  to  be  some  day  free  and 
happy." 

The  faces  of  the  enthusiastic  youth,  of  Chaudieu, 
of  the  boatman,  and  of  the  stranger  sitting  on  the 
forward  thwart,  lighted  by  the  last  gleams  of  twi- 
light, formed  a  picture  which  merits  description, 
especially  as  that  description  contains  the  entire 
history  of  that  period,  if  it  be  true  that  it  is  given 
to  certain  men  to  represent  the  spirit  of  their  age. 

The  religious  reformation  undertaken  by  Luther  in 
Germany,  by  John  Knox  in  Scotland,  and  by  Calvin 
in  France,  took  an  especially  firm  hold  of  the  lower 
classes  wherever  the  habit  of  thought  had  taken  root. 
The  great  noblemen  supported  the  movement  only  to 
advance  interests  entirely  unconnected  with  the  cause 
of  religion.  To  these  widely  different  parties  were 
added  adventurers,  ruined  noblemen,  and  younger 
sons  to  whom  disturbances  of  any  sort  were  equally 
agreeable.  But  among  the  artisans  and  the  trades- 
men, the  faith  in  the  new  religion  was  sincere  and 
based  upon  reflection.  The  poorer  nations  were  con- 
verted at  once  to  a  religion  which  would  turn  over 
church  property  to  the  State,  suppress  convents, 
and  deprive  church  dignitaries  of  their  enormous 
revenues.  The  whole  business  world  reckoned  up 
the  profits  of  this  religious  operation,  and  devoted 
themselves,  body,  soul,  and  purse,  to  its  successful 
execution  ;    but  among  the  youth   of  the   French 


86  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

bourgeoisie  the  new  doctrine  encountered  that  noble 
tendency  toward  sacrifices  of  every  kind  which 
kindles  the  enthusiasm  of  the  young,  to  whom  sel- 
fishness is  unknown.  Eminent  men,  keen  minds, 
such  as  are  always  found  in  the  midst  of  the  masses, 
foresaw  a  republic  in  the  Reformation,  and  aimed  to 
establish  throughout  Europe  the  form  of  government 
established  in  the  United  Provinces,  which  triumphed 
at  last  in  their  struggle  with  the  greatest  power  of 
that  age,  Spain,  governed  by  Philip  II.  and  repre- 
sented in  the  Low  Countries  by  the  Duke  of  Alva. 
Jean  Hotoman  was  then  meditating  his  famous  book 
in  which  that  project  is  set  forth,  and  which  sowed 
in  France  the  seed  of  those  ideas,  destined  to  be  re- 
vived by  the  League,  to  be  repressed  by  Richelieu 
and  again  by  Louis  XIV.,  to  reappear  with  the  econ- 
omists and  encyclopzedists  under  Louis  XV.,  and  to 
burst  forth  in  full  bloom  under  Louis  XVI.;  always 
favored  by  the  younger  branches,  by  the  House  of 
Orleans  in  1789,  as  by  the  House  of  Bourbon  in 
1589.  He  who  says  examination,  says  rebellion. 
Every  rebellion  is  either  the  cloak  beneath  which 
a  prince  conceals  himself,  or  the  swaddling-clothes 
of  a  new  domination.  The  House  of  Bourbon,  the 
younger  Valois  princes,  were  behind  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

At  the  moment  when  the  skiff  lay  under  the  arch 
of  Pont  au  Change,  the  question  was  curiously  com- 
plicated by  the  ambition  of  the  Guises,  who  were 
rivals  of  the  Bourbons;  thus  the  crown,  represented 
by  Catherine  de'  Medici,  was  able  to  maintain  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  87 

struggle  for  thirty  years  by  opposing  them  to  one 
another;  whereas,  later,  the  crown,  instead  of  being 
pulled  this  way  and  that  by  several  hands,  found 
itself  face  to  face  with  the  people,  with  no  barrier 
between:  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.  had  demolished 
the  barrier  of  the  nobility,  Louis  XV.  the  barrier  of 
the  parliaments.  A  king  left  alone  before  the  people, 
as  Louis  XVL  then  was,  will  always  yield. 

Christophe  Lecamus  well  represented  the  ardent, 
devoted  portion  of  the  people:  his  fair  face  had  the 
harsh,  warm  tone  which  distinguishes  some  blonds; 
his  hair  was  of  a  color  resembling  the  yellow  of 
copper;  his  blue-gray  eyes  were  bright  and  spark- 
ling,— in  them  only  did  his  noble  soul  reveal  itself; 
for  the  outline  of  his  face  was  bad,  and  the  irregu- 
larity of  its  almost  triangular  shape  was  not  dis- 
guised by  that  air  of  nobility  which  distinguishes 
well-bred  men;  and  his  low  forehead  denoted  nothing 
more  than  great  energy  of  character.  Life  seemed 
to  centre  in  his  slightly  hollow  chest.  Christophe 
was  nervous  rather  than  full-blooded,  his  complexion 
was  rough,  dry,  and  harsh  in  tone.  His  sharp  nose 
denoted  the  shrewdness  of  the  common  people,  just 
as  his  face,  taken  as  a  whole,  denoted  an  intelligence 
capable  of  giving  a  good  account  of  itself  on  any 
point  of  the  circumference,  but  lacking  the  power 
to  embrace  its  whole  extent.  His  eyes,  over  which 
the  arch  of  the  eyebrows,  barely  covered  with  a 
white  down,  protruded  like  an  awning,  were  sur- 
rounded by  a  pale-blue  ring,  which  became  a  gleam- 
ing white  at  the  top  of  the  nose;   a  detail  which 


88  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

almost  always  indicates  excessive  excitability.  Chris- 
tophe  was  the  type  of  the  man  of  the  people  who  de- 
votes himself  body  and  soul  to  a  cause,  fights  for  it, 
and  allows  himself  to  be  misled;  clever  enough  to 
understand  and  promote  an  idea,  too  noble  to  seek 
selfish  advantage  from  it,  too  generous  to  sell  him- 
self. 

Beside  Lecamus's  son,  Chaudieu,  that  fervent 
minister  of  the  faith,  with  the  brown  hair,  thinned 
by  sleepless  nights,  with  the  yellow  complexion,  the 
combative  brow,  the  eloquent  mouth,  the  flashing 
brown  eyes,  the  short,  upturned  chin,  was  a  typical 
representative  of  that  Christian  faith  to  which  the 
Reformation  owed  so  many  sincere,  fanatical  pastors 
whose  spirit  and  courage  kindled  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  people.  The  aide  de  camp  of  Theodore  de  B^ze 
and  Calvin  formed  an  admirable  contrast  to  the  fur- 
rier's son.  He  well  represented  the  living  cause  of 
which  the  effect  was  seen  in  Christophe.  He  was 
precisely  what  one  would  imagine  the  heat  gen- 
erator of  a  popular  machine  to  be. 

The  boatman,  an  impulsive  creature,  bronzed  by 
the  sun,  accustomed  to  nights  in  the  dew  and  days 
under  fire,  to  say  little  and  act  quickly,  with  a 
greedy,  orange-hued  eye,  like  a  vulture's,  and  with 
curly  black  hair,  was  a  type  of  the  adventurer  who 
risks  his  all  in  a  single  venture,  as  a  gambler  stakes 
his  fortune  on  a  card.  Everything  in  his  appearance 
indicated  terrible  passions,  a  hardihood  which  would 
recoil  at  nothing.  His  vigorous  muscles  were  adapted 
to  silence  as  well  as  to  speech.     His  manner  was 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  89 

rather  presumptuous  than  noble.  His  nose,  which, 
although  thin,  was  turned  up,  sniffed  the  battle  from 
afar.  He  seemed  active  and  shrewd.  At  any  period 
of  the  world's  history  he  would  have  been  picked  as 
a  party  leader.  If  there  had  been  no  Reformation, 
he  would  have  been  Pizarro,  Cortez,  or  Morgan  the 
Exterminator, — a  man  of  violent  action  of  some  sort. 

The  third  man,  who  sat  on  a  thwart,  wrapped  in 
his  cape,  evidently  belonged  to  the  highest  social 
order.  The  fineness  of  his  linen,  the  cut,  material, 
and  odor  of  his  garments,  the  style  and  material  of 
his  gloves,  indicated  an  habitue  of  the  court,  even  as 
his  attitude,  his  haughty,  tranquil  air,  and  his  keen 
glance  indicated  the  man  of  war.  His  appearance 
was  disquieting  at  first  and  imposed  respect.  One  re- 
spects a  man  who  respects  himself.  He  was  small  and 
deformed,  but  his  manners  soon  made  one  forget  the 
defects  of  his  figure.  When  the  ice  was  once  broken, 
he  displayed  a  good-humored  decision,  an  indefinable 
energy,  which  made  him  very  attractive.  He  had  the 
blue  eyes  and  short  nose  of  the  House  of  Navarre, 
and  the  accentuated  Spanish  type  of  face  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  Bourbon  kings  of  France. 

In  a  word,  the  scene  became  intensely  interesting. 

"Well,"  said  Chaudieu,  as  soon  as  young  Le- 
camus  finished  his  sentence,  "this  boatman  is  La 
Renaudie;  and  this  is  Monseigneur  le  Prince  de 
Conde,"  he  added,  pointing  to  the  little  hunchback. 

Thus  those  four  men  represented  the  faith  of  the 
common  people,  the  spirit  of  the  Word,  the  hand  of 
the  soldier,  and  royalty  hiding  in  the  shadow. 


90  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  You  shall  now  learn  what  we  expect  of  you,'* 
continued  the  minister,  after  a  pause,  to  give  young 
Lecamus's  astonishment  time  to  subside.  "  In  order 
that  you  may  make  no  mistake,  we  are  obliged  to 
divulge  to  you  the  most  momentous  secrets  of  the 
Reformation." 

The  prince  and  La  Renaudie  motioned  to  the 
minister  to  continue,  when  he  paused  to  allow  the 
prince  himself  to  speak  if  he  wished.  Like  all  great 
men  engaged  in  conspiracies,  whose  policy  is  not  to 
show  themselves  until  the  decisive  moment,  the 
prince  held  his  peace — not  from  cowardice,  for  in 
those  critical  times  he  was  the  soul  of  the  con- 
spiracy, he  shrank  from  no  danger  and  freely  risked 
his  head ;  but  with  a  sort  of  kingly  dignity  he  al- 
lowed the  minister  to  explain  the  enterprise  under 
consideration,  and  contented  himself  with  studying 
the  new  instrument  of  which  he  must  needs  make 
use. 

"  My  child,"  said  Chaudieu,  in  the  form  of  speech 
used  by  the  Huguenots,  "  we  are  about  to  fight  our 
first  battle  with  the  Roman  harlot.  A  few  days 
hence  our  troops  will  be  dying  on  scaffolds,  or  the 
Guises  will  be  no  more.  Ere  long,  then,  the  king 
and  the  two  queens  will  be  in  our  power.  This  is 
the  first  armed  uprising  of  our  religion  in  France; 
and  France  will  not  lay  down  her  arms  until  the 
victory  is  completely  won :  I  speak  of  the  nation, 
mark  you,  not  of  the  kingdom.  The  majority  of  the 
great  men  of  the  kingdom  detect  the  purpose  of 
the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  and  the  duke,  his  brother. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  9I 

On  the  plea  of  defending  the  Catholic  religion,  the 
House  of  Lorraine  proposes  to  claim  the  crown  of 
France  as  its  patrimony.  Leaning  upon  the  Church, 
it  has  made  of  the  Church  a  formidable  ally,  it 
has  the  monks  for  partisans,  for  acolytes,  for  spies. 
It  assumes  the  guardianship  of  the  throne  which  it 
seeks  to  usurp,  of  the  House  of  Valois  which  it  seeks 
to  destroy.  If  we  decide  to  rise  in  arms,  it  is  be- 
cause the  liberties  of  the  people  and  the  interests 
of  the  nobility  are  equally  endangered,  equally 
menaced.  Let  us  strangle  at  its  birth  a  faction  as 
odious  as  that  of  the  Bourguignons,  who  formerly 
laid  waste  Paris  and  France  with  fire  and  sword.  It 
required  a  Louis  XI.  to  put  an  end  to  the  quarrel 
between  the  Bourguignons  and  the  crown;  but  to-day 
a  Prince  de  Conde  will  find  a  way  to  prevent  the 
Lorraines  from  renewing  it.  This  is  not  civil  war, 
but  a  duel  between  the  Guises  and  the  Reformation, 
a  duel  to  the  death;  we  will  make  them  bite  the  dust, 
or  they  will  make  us." 

"  Well  said,"  cried  the  prince. 

"  In  this  emergency,  Christophe,"  interposed  La 
Renaudie,  "we  wish  to  leave  nothing  undone  which 
will  tend  to  increase  the  size  of  our  party — ^for  there 
is  a  party  in  the  Reformation,  the  party  of  thwarted 
interests,  of  nobles  sacrificed  to  the  Lorraines,  of  old 
soldiers  shamefully  fooled  at  Fontainebleau,  whence 
the  cardinal  has  driven  them  forth,  causing  gibbets 
to  be  set  up  on  which  to  hang  those  who  should  ask 
the  king  for  the  cost  of  their  equipment,  or  for  their 
arrears  of  pay." 


92  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

**And  this,  my  child,"  said  Chaudieu,  observing 
symptoms  of  horror  in  Christophe's  expression, 
"this  is  what  compels  us  to  triumph  with  the  armed 
hand  instead  of  triumphing  by  persuasion  and  mar- 
tyrdom. The  queen-mother  is  on  the  point  of  en- 
tering into  our  views;  not  that  she  means  to  abjure, — 
she  has  not  gone  so  far  as  that, — but  she  may  be 
driven  to  it  by  our  triumph.  However  that  may 
be,  Queen  Catherine,  humiliated  and  made  desper- 
ate by  the  consciousness  that  the  power  which  she 
hoped  to  wield  after  the  king's  death  is  passing  into 
the  hands  of  the  Guises,  alarmed  by  the  influence 
of  the  young  Queen  Mary,  the  niece  and  confed- 
erate of  the  Lorraines, — Catherine,  I  say,  is  natu- 
rally disposed  to  lend  her  assistance  to  the  princes 
and  nobles  who  propose  to  venture  a  bold  stroke  to 
deliver  her.  At  this  moment,  although  apparently 
devoted  to  the  Guises,  she  detests  them,  she  desires 
their  ruin,  and  will  make  use  of  us  against  them;  but 
monseigneur  will  make  use  of  her  against  all.  The 
queen-mother  will  give  her  assent  to  our  plans.  We 
shall  have  on  our  side  the  constable,  whom  monseign- 
eur has  just  been  to  see  at  Chantilly,  but  who  will 
not  stir  without  an  order  from  his  masters.  Being 
monseigneur's  uncle,  he  will  not  leave  him  in  the 
lurch;  and  this  noble-hearted  prince  hesitates  not 
to  endanger  his  own  life  in  order  to  force  Anne  de 
Montmorency  to  make  up  his  mind.  Everything 
is  prepared,  and  we  have  fixed  upon  you  to  make 
known  to  Queen  Catherine  the  terms  of  our  treaty 
of  alliance,  the  drafts  of  proposed  edicts,  and  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  93 

bases  of  the  new  government  to  be  established. 
The  court  is  at  Blois.  Many  of  our  friends  are 
there;  but  they  are  those  who  are  to  lead  us  here- 
after, and  like  monseigneur,"  he  added,  waving  his 
hand  toward  the  prince,  "they  must  never  be  sus- 
pected, we  must  all  sacrifice  ourselves  for  them. 
The  queen-mother  and  our  friends  are  the  object 
of  such  minute  espionage,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
employ  as  intermediary  a  person  who  is  at  all  known 
or  of  any  prominence;  such  a  person  would  instantly 
be  suspected  and  would  be  unable  to  communicate 
with  Madame  Catherine.  God  should  send  us  at 
this  juncture  David  the  shepherd  and  his  sling,  to 
confront  Goliath  of  Guise.  Your  father,  who  is  a 
good  Catholic,  unfortunately  for  himself,  is  the  fur- 
rier to  both  queens,  and  always  has  something  or 
other  to  send  them;  persuade  him  to  send  you  to 
court.  You  will  arouse  no  suspicion  and  will  in  no 
way  compromise  Queen  Catherine.  Any  one  of  our 
leaders  might  pay  with  his  head  for  an  imprudent 
act  which  would  arouse  a  suspicion  of  the  queen- 
mother's  connivance  with  him.  Where  a  great 
man,  once  detected,  would  cause  the  alarm  to  be 
given,  an  insignificant  person  like  you  will  attract 
no  notice.  Look  you!  the  Guises  employ  so  many 
spies  that  there  is  no  place  but  the  river  where  we 
can  talk  fearlessly.  You,  my  son,  are  like  the  sen- 
tinel who  is  in  duty  bound  to  die  at  his  post.  Under- 
stand this:  if  you  are  detected,  we  shall  all  abandon 
you;  we  shall  throw  upon  you,  if  need  be,  all  the 
opprobrium  and  infamy.     We  shall  say,  if  it  seems 


94  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

best,  that  you  are  a  creature  of  the  Guises  sent  to 
play  this  r61e  in  order  to  ruin  us.  So,  you  see,  we 
ask  of  you  an  unconditional  sacrifice." 

**  If  you  lose  your  life,"  said  the  Prince  de  Conde, 
**  I  pledge  my  word  as  a  gentleman  that  your  family 
shall  be  sacred  to  the  House  of  Navarre;  I  will  carry 
them  in  my  heart  and  serve  them  in  every  possible 
way." 

"Your  promise,  my  prince,  is  sufficient,"  replied 
Christophe,  forgetting  that  the  plotter  was  a  Gascon. 
"  These  are  times  when  everyone,  prince  or  bour- 
geois, should  do  his  duty." 

**  There  spoke  a  true  Huguenot!  If  all  our  men 
were  of  his  stamp,"  said  La  Renaudie,  laying  his 
hand  on  Christophe's  shoulder,  "  we  should  be 
masters  to-morrow." 

"Young  man,"  added  the  prince,  "I  propose  to 
show  you  that  if  Chaudieu  preaches,  if  the  gentle- 
man is  armed,  the  prince  fights.  In  this  fierce  game 
all  stakes  are  of  equal  value." 

"  Hark  ye,"  said  La  Renaudie,  **  I  shall  not  hand 
you  the  papers  until  you  reach  Beaugency,  for  they 
must  not  be  endangered  during  the  whole  journey. 
You  will  find  me  on  the  pier  there:  my  face,  my 
voice,  my  clothing,  will  be  so  changed  that  you  will 
be  unable  to  recognize  me.  But  I  will  say  to  you: 
'Are  you  a  guepinV  and  you  will  reply:  '  Ready  to 
serve.'— As  to  the  execution  of  your  mission,  this 
is  what  you  must  do.  You  will  find  a  horse  at  the 
Pinte  Fleurie,  near  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.  You 
will  ask  for  Jean  le  Breton,  who  will  take  you  to  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  95 

stable  and  give  you  one  of  my  ponies  which  has  been 
known  to  do  thirty  leagues  in  eight  hours.  Leave 
the  city  by  the  Bussy  gate;  Breton  has  a  pass  for 
me,  take  it  for  yourself  and  be  off;  make  a  detour 
around  all  the  towns.  You  can  reach  Orleans  by 
daylight." 

"  And  the  horse?"  queried  young  Lecamus. 

"  He  won't  give  out  before  you  reach  Orleans," 
replied  La  Renaudie.  "Leave  him  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Bannier  faubourg;  for  the  gates  are  well 
guarded,  and  you  must  not  arouse  suspicion.  It  is 
for  you,  my  friend,  to  see  that  you  play  your  part 
shrewdly.  Invent  whatever  fable  you  think  best  to 
enable  you  to  reach  the  third  house  on  the  left  as 
you  enter  Orleans;  it  belongs  to  one  Tourillon, 
glover.  You  will  knock  thrice  on  the  door,  crying: 
*  Service  of  Messieurs  de  Guise! ' — The  man  is,  to 
all  appearance,  a  frantic  Guisard,  we  four  are  the 
only  ones  who  know  that  he  is  really  one  of  us.  He 
will  furnish  you  with  a  trustworthy  boatman,  an- 
other Guisard  of  the  same  stamp.  Go  down  to  the 
pier  with  all  speed,  and  take  a  green  boat  with  a 
white  gunwale.  You  will  probably  reach  Beaugency 
about  noon  to-morrow.  There  I  will  find  you  a  boat 
on  which  you  can  go  down  to  Blois  without  incurring 
any  risk.  Our  enemies,  the  Guises,  do  not  watch 
the  Loire,  they  only  watch  the  landing-places.  Thus 
you  will  be  able  to  see  the  queen  to-morrow  or  the 
day  after." 

"Your  words  are  engraved  here,"  said  Chris- 
tophe,  touching  his  forehead. 


96  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Chaudieu  embraced  the  boy  with  unusually  devout 
fervor;  he  was  proud  of  him. 

"  May  God  watch  over  you!"  he  said,  pointing 
to  the  setting  sun,  which  tinged  with  red  the  old 
shingled  roofs  and  sent  its  rays  through  the  forest 
of  timbers  among  which  the  water  foamed  and  bub- 
bled. 

"  You  are  of  the  race  of  old  Jacques  Bonhomme!" 
said  La  Renaudie,  pressing  Christophe's  hand. 

**  We  shall  meet  again,  monsieur,''  said  the  prince, 
with  a  gesture  of  infinite  charm,  in  which  there  was 
something  very  like  friendship. 

With  a  stroke  of  the  oars.  La  Renaudie  landed  the 
young  conspirator  on  the  lower  step  of  the  flight 
which  led  into  his  house,  and  the  boat  instantly  dis- 
appeared under  the  arches  of  Pont  au  Change. 


Christophe  shook  the  iron  grating  which  closed 
the  stairway  leading  to  the  river,  and  shouted ; 
Mademoiselle  Lecamus  heard  him,  opened  one  of 
the  windows  in  the  back-shop,  and  asked  him  how 
he  came  there.  Christophe  replied  that  he  was 
freezing,  and  that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to 
let  him  in. 

"So,  my  young  master,"  rejoined  La  Bourgui- 
gnonne,  the  servant,  "  you  went  out  by  the  street 
door  and  you  come  back  by  the  river  door,  eh  ?  Your 
father  will  be  in  a  pretty  rage." 

Christophe,  bewildered  by  the  incident  which  had 
brought  him  into  direct  relations  with  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  La  Renaudie,  and  Chaudieu,  and  even 
more  excited  by  the  probable  spectacle  of  civil  war 
close  at  hand,  made  no  reply;  he  rushed  hurriedly 
up  from  the  kitchen  to  the  back-shop;  but  his 
mother,  a  fanatical  old  Catholic,  could  not  restrain 
her  wrath  when  he  appeared. 

"  I  will  warrant  that  the  three  men  with  whom 
you  were  talking  yonder  are  ref — "  she  began. 

*'  Hush,  wife,"  exclaimed  the  sage,  white-haired 
old  man,  who  was  turning  the  leaves  of  a  huge 
book. — "  Here,  you  lazy  knaves,"  he  added,  turning 
to  three  boys  who  had  long  since  finished  their 
supper,  "why  don't  you  go  to  bed?  It's  eight 
o'clock,  and  you  must  be  up  at  five  in  the  morning. 
7  (97) 


98  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

By  the  way,  you  must  carry  President  de  Thou  his 
cap  and  gown.  Go,  all  three  of  you,  and  take  your 
clubs  and  your  rapiers.  If  you  should  fall  in  with 
other  good-for-naughts  like  yourselves,  you'll  be  in 
force  at  all  events." 

"  Shall  we  also  take  the  ermine  surcot  which  the 
young  queen  ordered,  to  be  delivered  at  the  Hotel  de 
Soissons.?  a  courier  is  to  go  from  there  to  Blois  for 
the  queen-mother,"  said  one  of  the  clerks. 

"No,"  said  the  syndic;  "Queen  Catherine's 
account  amounts  to  three  thousand  crowns;  it's 
high  time  that  I  had  the  money,  and  I  mean  to  go  to 
Blois  myself." 

"  Father,  I  can't  allow  you  to  run  the  risk  of 
travelling  about  the  country,  at  your  age  and  in  such 
times  as  these.  I  am  twenty-two,  you  can  trust  me  to 
do  this  for  you,"  said  Christophe,  casting  a  longing 
glance  at  a  box  which  probably  contained  the  surcot. 

"Are  you  glued  to  the  bench?"  the  old  man 
roared  at  the  apprentices,  who  instantly  took  their 
cloaks  and  rapiers  and  Monsieur  de  Thou's  furs. 

The  Parliament  was  to  receive  at  the  Palais,  on 
the  following  day,  as  its  president,  that  illustrious 
man,  who,  after  signing  the  death-warrant  of  Coun- 
sellor du  Bourg,  was  destined  to  be  called  upon  to 
pass  sentence  on  the  Prince  de  Conde  before  the  end 
of  the  year. 

"  La  Bourguignonne,"  said  the  old  man,  "go  and 
ask  my  gossip  Lallier  to  come  and  sup  with  us,  and 
bring  the  wine:  we'll  furnish  the  eatables;  be  sure 
to  tell  him  to  bring  his  daughter." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  99 

The  syndic  of  the  furriers  was  a  fine  old  man  of 
sixty,  with  white  hair  and  a  broad,  smooth  forehead. 
As  furrier  to  the  court  for  forty  years,  he  had  seen 
all  the  revolutions  of  the  reign  of  Francois  I.,  and 
had  clung  to  his  royal  patent  despite  the  rivalries  of 
mistresses.  He  had  witnessed  the  arrival  at  court 
of  the  young  Catherine  de'  Medici,  barely  fifteen 
years  of  age;  he  had  watched  her  bending  the 
knee  to  the  Duchesse  d'Etampes,  her  father-in- 
law's  mistress,  and  to  the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois, 
the  mistress  of  her  husband,  the  late  king.  But  the 
furrier  had  steered  his  way  safely  through  all  those 
strange  vicissitudes,  in  which  court  tradesmen  had 
so  often  shared  the  disgrace  of  royal  favorites.  His 
prudence  equalled  his  fortune.  He  maintained  an 
attitude  of  excessive  humility.  Pride  had  never 
caught  him  in  its  snares.  He  assumed  such  an  in- 
consequential, mild,  obliging,  impoverished  manner 
at  court,  in  the  presence  of  the  princesses,  queens, 
and  favorites,  that  his  modesty  and  affability  had 
preserved  the  sign  of  his  establishment  intact.  Such 
a  policy  necessarily  denoted  a  shrewd,  far-sighted 
man.  He  was  as  despotic  at  home  as  he  was  hum- 
ble elsewhere;  under  his  own  roof  he  was  absolute. 
He  was  greatly  respected  by  his  confreres,  and  he 
enjoyed  the  very  highest  consideration  because  of 
his  long  possession  of  the  first  place  in  his  branch 
of  trade.  He  was  always  ready  to  do  a  friend  a 
service,  and  among  the  many  services  he  had  ren- 
dered to  others,  none  was  more  noteworthy  than 
the  assistance  which   he  for  a  long  time  gave  to 


lOO  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Ambroise  Pare,  the  famous  surgeon  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  who  owed  it  to  him  that  he  was  able  to 
pursue  his  studies. 

In  all  the  disputes  which  arose  between  mer- 
chants, Lecamus  showed  a  conciliatory  disposition. 
Thus  the  general  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  solid- 
ified his  position  among  his  equals,  as  his  assumed 
character  kept  him  in  favor  at  court.  After  obtain- 
ing by  intrigue,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  the  honors  of 
warden  in  his  parish  church,  he  did  what  was  neces- 
sary to  maintain  himself  in  the  odor  of  sanctity  with 
the  cure  of  Saint-Pierre  aux  Bceufs,  who  looked 
upon  him  as  one  of  the  most  faithful  supporters  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  all  Paris.  Thus,  at  the  time 
of  the  convocation  of  the  States-General,  he  was 
unanimously  chosen  to  represent  the  third  estate, 
through  the  influence  of  the  cures  of  Paris,  which  in 
those  days  was  immense.  This  old  man  was  one 
of  those  deep,  self-contained,  ambitious  mortals,  who 
bend  the  knee  to  everyone  for  fifty  years,  stealing 
from  one  office  to  another,  no  one  being  able  to  tell 
how  they  get  there,  but  who  appear  at  last  peace- 
fully seated  where  no  one,  not  even  the  most  auda- 
cious of  men,  would  have  dared  to  avow  at  the 
outset  of  his  career  that  he  hoped  to  arrive:  the  dis- 
tance was  so  great,  there  were  so  many  chasms  to 
be  crossed  into  which  one  might  fall ! 

Lecamus,  who  had  an  enormous  fortune  hidden 
away,  preferred  to  run  no  risk  and  looked  forward 
to  a  brilliant  future  for  his  son.  Instead  of  that 
personal  ambition  which  often  sacrifices  the  future 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  lOI 

to  the  present,  he  had  family  ambition — a.  sentiment 
unknown  in  our  day,  destroyed  by  the  idiotic  pro- 
visions of  our  laws  concerning  inheritances.  Le- 
camus  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he  himself 
should  be  first  president  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
in  the  person  of  his  grandson. 

Christophe,  a  godson  of  the  illustrious  historian 
De  Thou,  received  a  most  thorough  education ;  but  it 
had  led  him  to  the  spirit  of  doubt  and  scrutiny  which 
was  making  rapid  progress  among  the  students  and 
the  faculties  of  the  University.  At  this  time,  Chris- 
tophe was  studying  for  the  bar,  that  first  step  to- 
ward the  magistracy.  The  old  furrier  pretended  to 
have  some  hesitation  with  regard  to  his  son  :  some- 
times he  seemed  to  incline  toward  making  him  his 
successor  in  business,  sometimes  toward  making  an 
advocate  of  him;  but,  in  reality,  his  heart  was  set 
upon  a  seat  as  counsellor  in  Parliament  for  him. 
This  tradesman  aspired  to  place  the  Lecamus  family 
on  a  level  with  the  celebrated  old  families  of  the 
Parisian  bourgeoisie,  from  which  came  the  Pasquiers, 
the  Moles,  the  Mirons,  the  Seguiers,  Lamoignon,  Du 
Tillet,  Lecoigneux,  Lescalopier,  the  Goix,  the  Ar- 
naulds,  the  famous  sheriffs,  and  the  great  provosts 
of  merchants,  among  whom  the  throne  found  so 
many  supporters.  And  so,  in  order  that  Christophe 
might  be  able  to  maintain  his  position  when  the  time 
came,  he  proposed  to  marry  him  to  the  daughter  of 
the  richest  jeweller  in  the  city,  his  gossip  Lallier, 
whose  nephew  was  destined  to  present  the  keys  of 
Paris  to  Henri  IV.     The  project  most  deeply  rooted 


I02  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDIO 

in  the  worthy  bourgeois's  heart  was  to  employ  half 
of  his  own  fortune  and  half  of  the  jeweller's  in  pur- 
chasing an  extensive  and  beautiful  seignorial  estate, 
a  long  and  arduous  affair  in  those  days.  But  that 
deep  politician  knew  his  epoch  too  well  to  be  in  igno- 
rance of  the  great  convulsions  which  were  in  prepara- 
tion: his  judgment  was  keen  and  unerring  when  he 
foresaw  the  division  of  the  kingdom  into  two  hostile 
camps.  The  useless  punishments  on  Place  de  I'Es- 
trapade,  the  execution  of  the  king's  tailor,  and  more 
recently  of  Counsellor  Anne  du  Bourg,  the  present 
connivance  of  the  great  nobles,  and  that  of  a  royal 
favorite  under  Francois  I.,  with  the  reformers,  were 
alarming  portents.  The  furrier  had  resolved  to  re- 
main a  Catholic,  royalist,  and  parliamentarian,  what- 
ever might  happen;  but  privately  he  was  well 
pleased  that  Christophe  should  be  connected  with 
the  Reformation.  He  knew  that  he  was  wealthy 
enough  to  ransom  Christophe,  if  he  were  compro- 
mised too  far;  and  then,  if  France  did  become  Cal- 
vinist,  his  son  could  rescue  the  family  in  the  event 
of  one  of  those  fierce  Parisian  emeutes  of  which  the 
bourgeoisie  still  retained  a  vivid  remembrance,  and 
which  they  were  destined  to  repeat  during  four 
reigns.  But  the  old  furrier,  like  Louis  XL,  did  not 
breathe  these  thoughts  even  to  himself ;  his  cunning 
went  so  far  as  to  deceive  his  wife  and  son. 

This  consequential  personage  had  long  been  at 
the  head  of  the  richest  and  most  populous  quarter 
of  Paris — ^the  Centre — under  the  title  of  quartenier, 
which  was  to  become  so  celebrated  fifteen  years 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  103 

later.  Dressed  in  broadcloth,  like  all  prudent  bour- 
geois who  obeyed  the  sumptuary  ordinances,  Sieur 
Lecamus — he  clung  to  that  title,  which  Charles  V. 
accorded  to  the  bourgeois  of  Paris,  and  which  en- 
abled them  to  purchase  seignorial  estates  and  to  call 
their  wives  by  the  high-sounding  name  of  demoi- 
selles— wore  no  gold  chain,  no  silk,  but  an  honest 
doublet  with  huge  buttons  of  blackened  silver,  milled 
stockings  reaching  above  the  knee,  and  leather  shoes 
with  buckles.  His  fine  linen  shirt  protruded  in  great 
puffs,  in  accordance  with  the  fashion  of  the  period, 
between  his  half-opened  jacket  and  his  breeches. 
Although  the  light  from  the  lamp  fell  full  upon  the 
old  man's  large  and  handsome  face,  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  Christophe  to  divine  the  thoughts  concealed 
beneath  his  father's  florid  Dutch  skin ;  but  he  re- 
alized, none  the  less,  all  the  advantage  the  old  man 
expected  to  derive  from  his  affection  for  pretty 
Babette  Lallier.  And  so  he  smiled  bitterly,  like  a 
man  who  had  formed  an  irrevocable  resolution, 
when  he  heard  the  invitation  sent  to  his  betrothed. 

When  La  Bourguignonne  had  left  the  room  with 
the  apprentices,  old  Lecamus  glanced  at  his  wife,  no 
longer  concealing  his  determined,  absolute  character. 

**  You  will  not  be  satisfied  until  you  have  brought 
this  boy  to  the  gallows  with  your  damned  tongue!" 
he  said  to  her,  sternly. 

"  I  would  rather  see  him  condemned  and  sure  of 
salvation,  than  living  and  a  Huguenot,"  she  said, 
gloomily.  "  To  think  that  a  child  who  lived  in  my 
womb  for  nine  months  is  not  a  good  Catholic,  but 


104  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

is  eating  of  Colas's  cow,*  and  will  go  to  hell  for 
eternity!" 

She  began  to  weep. 

"  Old  fool,"  said  the  furrier,  "let  him  live,  then, 
if  only  for  the  purpose  of  converting  him  1  You  said 
something  before  our  apprentices  that  may  result  in 
our  house  being  burned  down  and  all  of  us  roasted 
like  fleas  in  straw." 

The  mother  crossed  herself,  sat  down,  and  said  no 
more. 

**  Now,  then,"  said  the  goodman,  glancing  at  his 
son  with  the  air  of  a  judge,  "just  explain  to  me 
what  you  were  doing  out  yonder  on  the  river  with — 
come  nearer  so  that  I  can  speak  to  you,"  he  said, 
grasping  his  son  by  the  arm  and  pulling  him  toward 
him — "with  the  Prince  de  Conde,"  he  whispered 
in  his  ear.  Christophe  started. — "  Do  you  suppose 
the  court  furrier  doesn't  know  all  the  faces  at  court.? 
and  do  you  suppose  I  don't  know  what  is  going  on? 
Monseigneur  the  Grand  Master  has  given  orders  for 
troops  to  be  sent  to  Amboise.  To  withdraw  troops 
from  Paris  and  send  them  to  Amboise,  when  the 
court  is  at  Blois — to  send  them  by  Chartres  and 
VendSme,  instead  of  taking  the  Orleans  road — what 
does  that  mean.?  there's  going  to  be  trouble.  If  the 
queens  want  their  surcots,  they  can  send  and  get 
them.  It  may  be  that  the  Prince  de  Conde  has  re- 
solved to  kill  Messieurs  de  Guise,  who,  on  their  side, 
are  thinking,  perhaps,  about  getting  rid  of  him.  The 
prince  will  make  use  of  the  Huguenots  to  defend 

*  La  vaebt  4  Colas — FYotestantlsa. 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  105 

himself.  Of  what  use  would  a  furrier's  son  be  in 
such  a  scrimmage?  When  you  are  married  and  an 
advocate  in  Parliament,  you'll  be  as  wise  as  your 
father.  A  furrier's  son  ought  to  wait,  before  taking 
up  with  a  new  religion,  until  everybody  else  belongs 
to  it.  I  don't  condemn  the  reformers,  that's  not  my 
business;  but  the  court  is  Catholic,  the  two  queens 
are  Catholic,  the  Parliament  is  Catholic;  we  supply 
them  all  with  furs,  so  we  must  be  Catholic.  You 
must  not  leave  the  house,  Christophe;  or  I'll  send 
you  to  President  de  Thou,  your  godfather,  who  will 
keep  you  by  him  night  and  day,  and  make  you 
blacken  paper  instead  of  allowing  your  soul  to  be 
blackened  in  the  cook-shop  of  those  damned  Gene- 
vans!" 

"  Father,"  said  Christophe,  leaning  on  the  back 
of  the  old  man's  chair,  "pray  send  me  to  Blois 
to  carry  the  surcot  to  Queen  Mary  and  collect  our 
money  from  the  queen-mother;  otherwise  I  am  lost! 
and  you  care  for  me — " 

**  Lost?"  echoed  the  old  man,  without  manifesting 
the  slightest  astonishment.  "  If  you  stay  here,  you 
won't  be  lost,  for  I  shall  always  know  where  to  find 
you." 

"  I  shall  be  killed." 

"  How?" 

"  The  most  ardent  Huguenots  have  fixed  upon  me 
to  act  for  them  in  a  certain  matter,  and  if  I  fail  to  do 
what  I  have  promised,  they  will  kill  me  in  broad 
daylight,  in  the  street,  here  in  this  house,  as  they 
killed  Minard.     But,  if  you  send  me  to  the  court  on 


I06  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

your  business,  I  may,  perhaps,  be  able  to  satisfy 
both  sides.  Either  I  shall  succeed  without  having 
run  any  risk,  and  so  shall  be  able  to  obtain  a  promi- 
nent position  in  the  party,  or  else,  if  the  danger 
is  too  great,  I  will  simply  attend  to  your  business." 

The  father  sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  his  chair  were 
of  red-hot  iron. 

"  Leave  us,  wife,"  he  said,  "  and  see  that  Chris- 
tophe  and  I  are  not  interrupted." 

When  Mademoiselle  Lecamus  had  gone  out,  the 
furrier  took  his  son  by  a  button  and  led  him  to  the 
corner  of  the  room  nearest  the  bridge. 

"  Christophe,"  he  said  in  his  ear,  as  he  did  when 
he  mentioned  the  Prince  de  Conde,  "  be  a  Hugue- 
not, if  you  are  so  viciously  inclined,  but  be  prudent 
about  it,  keep  it  to  yourself,  and  don't  behave  so 
that  people  in  the  quarter  will  point  their  fingers  at 
you.  This  that  you  have  just  admitted  shows  how 
much  confidence  the  leaders  have  in  you.  What  is 
it  you're  to  do  at  court.?" 

"I  shouldn't  know  how  to  tell  you,"  replied 
Christophe,  *'for  I  have  no  very  clear  idea  myself 
as  yet." 

"  Hum!  hum!"  muttered  the  old  man,  looking 
fixedly  at  his  son,  "the  rascal  is  trying  to  fool  his 
father;  he'll  make  his  way  in  the  world. — Look 
you,"  he  continued  in  an  undertone,  "you're  not 
going  to  court  to  make  overtures  to  Messieurs  de 
Guise,  nor  to  the  little  king,  our  master,  nor  to 
little  Queen  Mary.  They  are  all  staunch  Catholics; 
but  I  would  stake  my  head  that  the  Italian  has  some 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  107 

grudge  against  the  Scotch  girl  and  the  Lorraines — I 
know  her:  she  always  had  a  frantic  longing  to  have 
a  finger  in  the  pie!  the  late  king  was  so  afraid  of  her 
that  he  did  as  the  jewellers  do,  cut  diamond  with 
diamond,  set  one  woman  against  another.  That's 
the  explanation  of  Queen  Catherine's  hatred  of  the 
poor  Duchesse  de  Valentinois  from  whom  she  took  the 
beautiful  chateau  of  Chenonceaux.  If  it  hadn't  been 
for  Monsieur  le  Connetable,  the  duchess  would  have 
been  strangled,  at  least. — Back,  my  son!  don't  put 
yourself  in  the  hands  of  that  Italian  creature,  who 
has  no  passion  except  in  the  brain:  a  bad  sort  of 
woman!  Yes,  what  they  propose  to  send  you  to  do 
at  court  may  cause  you  a  very  bad  headache,"  cried 
the  father,  as  he  saw  that  Christophe  was  about  to 
reply.  "  My  child,  I  have  plans  for  your  future  and 
you  would  not  interfere  with  them  by  making  your- 
self useful  to  Queen  Catherine;  but,  Jesus!  don't 
risk  your  head  !  and  those  Guises  would  slice  it  off 
as  La  Bourguignonne  slices  a  turnip,  for  the  men 
who  employ  you  will  disavow  you  utterly." 

**  I  know  it,  father,"  said  Christophe. 

"Are  you  as  brave  as  that.?  You  know  it  and  still 
you  risk  it.-"' 

"Yes,  father." 

"  By  Heaven!"  cried  the  father,  pressing  his  son 
to  his  heart,  "we  can  understand  each  other;  you 
are  worthy  of  your  father.  My  child,  you  will  be 
the  honor  of  the  family,  and  I  see  that  your  old 
father  can  safely  speak  freely  to  you.  But  don't  be 
more  of  a  Huguenot  than   Messieurs   de  Coligny. 


I08  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Don't  draw  the  sword;  you  will  be  a  man  of  the 
pen  some  time,  so  stick  to  your  future  r61e  of  limb 
of  the  law.  Tell  me  nothing  until  after  you  have 
succeeded.  If  you  send  me  no  word  within  four 
days  of  your  arrival  at  Biois,  your  silence  will  tell 
me  that  you  are  in  danger.  The  old  man  will  go  to 
the  rescue  of  the  young  man.  I  have  not  sold  furs 
for  thirty-two  years  without  becoming  familiar  with 
the  under  side  of  court  robes.  I  shall  have  the  means 
of  opening  doors.'* 

Christophe  opened  his  eyes  when  he  heard  his 
father  speak  thus;  but  he  feared  some  paternal 
snare,  so  held  his  peace. 

*'  Well,  make  up  the  account  and  write  a  letter  to 
the  queen;  I  must  start  at  once;  otherwise  the  great- 
est disasters  might  happen." 

"Start!     But  how?" 

"  I  will  buy  a  horse.     Write,  in  God's  name!" 

**  Ho!  mother!  money  for  your  son,"  the  furrier 
shouted  to  his  wife. 

The  mother  returned,  ran  to  her  chest,  and  took 
from  it  a  purse  which  she  handed  to  Christophe, 
who  kissed  her,  deeply  moved. 

**  The  account  was  all  ready,"  said  his  father, 
**  here  it  is.     I  will  go  and  write  the  letter." 

Christophe  took  the  account  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket. 

"But  you  will  at  least  sup  with  us,"  said  the 
goodman.  "At  this  crisis,  you  and  Lallier's  daughter 
must  exchange  rings." 

"  Very  well,  I  will  go  for  her,"  said  Christophe. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  IC9 

The  young  man  distrusted  his  father's  reliability; 
he  was  not  as  yet  sufficiently  acquainted  with  his 
character.  He  went  up  to  his  room,  dressed  for  a 
journey,  took  a  valise,  stole  downstairs,  and  placed 
it  with  his  cloak  and  rapier  under  the  counter  in  the 
shop. 

"  What  the  devil  are  you  doing?"  said  his  father, 
hearing  his  footsteps. 

Christophe  went  and  kissed  the  old  man  on  both 
cheeks. 

"  I  didn't  want  anyone  to  see  my  preparations 
for  departure,  so  I  have  put  everything  under  the 
counter,"  he  whispered. 

"  Here  is  the  letter,"  said  the  father. 

Christophe  took  the  paper  and  went  out,  as  if  to 
go  in  quest  of  their  young  neighbor. 

A  few  moments  after  Christophe's  departure, 
gossip  Lallier  and  his  daughter  arrived,  preceded 
by  a  maid-servant  carrying  three  bottles  of  old 
wine. 

"Well,  Where's  Christophe.?"  inquired  the  two 
old  people. 

"  Christophe?"  cried  Babette,  "  we  have  not  seen 
him." 

"  My  son's  an  insolent  rascal !  he  deceives  me  as 
if  I  hadn't  a  hair  on  my  face.  What  is  going  to 
happen,  old  friend?  We  live  in  an  age  when  chil- 
dren have  more  wit  than  their  fathers." 

*'  Why,  for  a  long  time  the  whole  quarter  has 
called  him  a  Protestant,"  said  Lallier. 

*'  Defend  him  on  that  score,  gossip,"  said  the 


no  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

furrier  to  the  jeweller;  "  youth  is  wild,  it  runs  after 
new  things;  but  Babette  will  keep  him  quiet,  for  she 
is  newer  than  Calvin." 

Babette  smiled;  she  loved  Christophe  and  was 
angry  at  all  the  things  that  were  said  against  him. 
She  was  a  child  of  the  old  bourgeoisie,  brought  up 
under  the  watchful  eyes  of  her  mother,  who  had 
never  left  her;  her  manner  was  gentle  and  correct, 
like  her  face;  she  was  dressed  in  a  woollen  dress  of 
harmonious  shades  of  gray;  her  pure  white  necker- 
chief, simply  pleated,  stood  out  against  her  dress; 
she  wore  a  brown  velvet  cap  not  unlike  an  infant's 
headgear,  but  it  was  embellished  with  ruffles  and 
lappets  of  tanned,  that  is  to  say,  tan-colored  gauze, 
which  fell  on  both  sides  of  her  face.  Though  a  true 
blonde,  and  as  white  as  a  blonde,  she  seemed  to  be  a 
shrewd,  sly  creature,  trying  all  the  while  to  conceal 
her  mischievous  propensities  under  the  manners  of  a 
soberly  educated  maiden. 

While  the  two  servants  went  in  and  out,  laying 
the  cloth  and  setting  out  the  mugs,  the  great  pewter 
dishes  and  the  knives  and  forks,  the  jeweller  and 
his  wife  and  the  furrier  and  his  daughter  remained 
in  front  of  the  tall  mantelpiece  with  lambrequins 
of  red  serge  trimmed  with  black  fringe,  talking  of 
trivial  matters.  In  vain  did  Babette  ask  where 
Christophe  could  be — the  young  Huguenot's  father 
and  mother  answered  evasively;  but  when  the  two 
families  were  at  table  and  the  servants  in  the  kitchen, 
Lecamus  said  to  his  future  daughter-in-law: 

**  Christophe  has  started  for  the  court." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  III 

**  For  Blois!  He  has  started  on  such  a  journey 
without  saying  adieu  to  me  !"  she  cried. 

"  The  business  was  very  urgent,"  said  the  old 
mother. 

"  Gossip,"  said  the  furrier,  resuming  their  inter- 
rupted conversation,  "  we  are  going  to  have  a  rumpus 
in  France;  the  reformers  are  stirring." 

"  If  they  triumph,  it  will  be  only  after  a  long  war, 
during  which  business  will  be  bad,"  said  Lallier,  in- 
capable of  rising  higher  than  the  commercial  sphere. 

"  My  father,  who  saw  the  end  of  the  war  between 
the  Bourguignons  and  the  Armagnacs,  told  me  that 
our  family  would  not  have  been  saved  if  one  of  his 
grandfathers,  his  mother's  father,  hadn't  happened 
to  be  a  Goix,  one  of  the  famous  butchers  of  the 
market  who  were  for  the  Bourguignons,  while  the 
other,  a  Lecamus,  was  of  the  Armagnac  faction ; 
they  seemed  to  long  to  flay  each  other  in  public, 
but  they  understood  each  other  in  the  family.  So 
let  us  try  to  save  Christophe;  perhaps  the  time 
may  come  when  he  will  save  us." 

"  You're  a  shrewd  fellow,  gossip!"  said  the  jewel- 
ler. 

"  No,"  rejoined  Lecamus.  "  The  bourgeoisie  must 
look  out  for  itself,  the  nobility  and  the  common  people 
are  equally  hostile  to  it.  The  Parisian  bourgeoisie 
is  an  object  of  dread  to  everybody  except  the  king, 
who  knows  that  it's  his  friend." 

"  You  know  so  much  and  have  seen  so  many 
things,"  observed  Babette,  timidly,  **  pray  explain 
to  me  what  it  is  that  the  reformers  want." 


112  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Tell  us  that,  gossip,"  cried  the  jeweller.  "I 
knew  the  late  king's  tailor,  and  I  looked  upon  him 
as  a  man  of  simple  manners  with  no  great  genius; 
he  was  like  you,  I  might  say,  a  man  to  whom  any 
priest  would  have  given  the  sacrament  without  con- 
fession, and  yet  he  plunged  over  his  head  in  this 
new  religion  1  a  man  whose  two  ears  were  worth 
several  hundred  thousand  crowns.  He  must  have 
had  secrets  to  reveal,  to  induce  the  king  and  the 
Duchess^  de  Valentinois  to  be  present  when  he  was 
tortured." 

"  Terrible  secrets,  too!"  said  the  furrier.  "The 
Reformation,  my  friends,"  he  continued  in  an 
undertone,  "would  give  all  the  estates  of  the 
Church  to  the  bourgeoisie.  After  the  suppression 
of  ecclesiastical  privileges,  the  reformers  intend  to 
demand  that  nobles  and  bourgeois  shall  stand  on  an 
equal  footing  with  regard  to  taxes,  that  the  king 
alone  shall  be  above  other  men,  assuming  that  they 
leave  a  king  in  the  State." 

"  Suppress  the  throne?"  cried  Lallier. 

"Why,  gossip,"  said  Lecamus,  "in  the  Low 
Countries  the  bourgeois  govern  themselves  by 
sheriffs  of  their  own  choosing,  who  elect  a  tempo- 
rary chief." 

"Great  God!  gossip,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  do 
these  fine  things  and  still  remain  Catholics,"  cried 
the  jeweller. 

"  We  are  too  old  to  see  the  triumph  of  the  Parisian 
bourgeoisie,  but  it  will  triumph,  gossip,  at  one  time 
or  another!     Ah!  the  king  must  needs  rely  upon  it 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  II3 

to  resist,  and  we  have  always  sold  our  support  at 
a  handsome  price.  Indeed,  the  last  time,  all  the 
bourgeois  were  ennobled,  it  was  made  lawful  for 
them  to  purchase  seignorial  estates  and  to  bear  the 
names  of  their  estates,  without  special  letters  patent 
from  the  king.  You,  like  myself,  are  the  grandson 
of  the  Goix  through  the  female  line,  and  aren't  we 
as  good  as  many  a  nobleman?" 

This  harangue  so  alarmed  the  jeweller  and  the 
two  women  that  it  was  followed  by  a  profound 
silence.  The  fermentation  of  1789  was  already 
beginning  to  work  in  Lecamus's  blood,  nor  was  he 
too  old  to  live  to  see  the  audacious  bourgeois  of  the 
League. 

"  Is  business  still  good,  notwithstanding  all  this 
turmoil?"  Lallier  asked  La  Lecamus. 

"  It  always  does  harm,"  she  replied. 

**  That  is  why  I  am  very  anxious,  indeed,  to  make 
an  advocate  of  my  son,"  said  Lecamus,  "for  litiga- 
tion never  stops." 

Thereafter  the  conversation  was  confined  to  com- 
monplace subjects,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the 
jeweller,  who  had  no  fondness  for  political  disturb- 
ances nor  for  bold  flights  of  thought. 


The  banks  of  the  Loire,  from  Blois  to  Angers, 
were  always  a  favorite  resort  of  the  last  two 
branches  of  the  royal  race  which  occupied  the 
throne  of  France  before  the  House  of  Bourbon. 
That  beautiful  basin  well  deserves  the  honors  which 
kings  have  bestowed  upon  it ;  witness  what  one  of 
our  most  polished  writers  recently  said  of  it : 

"  There  is  a  province  in  France  which  has  never 
been  sufficiently  admired.  With  the  sweet  perfumes 
of  Italy,  as  flowery  as  the  banks  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir, and  lovely,  in  addition,  with  its  own  peculiar 
loveliness,  entirely  French,  having  always  been 
French, — wherein  it  differs  from  our  northern  prov- 
inces, which  are  debased  by  contact  with  Germany, 
and  from  our  southern  provinces,  which  have  lived 
in  concubinage  with  the  Moors,  the  Spaniards,  and 
all  other  nations  that  have  desired  that  relation, — 
that  pure,  chaste,  gallant,  loyal  province  is  Tou- 
raine!  There  lies  historic  France!  Auvergne  is 
Auvergne,  Languedoc  is  only  Languedoc;  but  Tou- 
raine  is  France,  and  the  most  truly  national  river  is 
the  Loire,  which  waters  Touraine.  Therefore  we 
should  be  less  astonished  by  the  vast  number  of 
monuments  comprised  within  the  departments  which 
have  taken  the  name,  or  derivatives  of  the  name, 
of  the  Loire.  At  every  step  we  take  in  that  land  of 
enchantment,  we  discover  a  picture  whose  frame  is 
(115) 


Il6  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDIQ 

a  stream  or  a  tranquil  lake  whose  liquid  depths  re- 
flect a  chateau,  its  turrets,  its  woods,  its  gushing 
fountains.  It  was  natural  that  where  royalty  abode 
by  preference,  where  it  established  its  court  for  so 
long  a  time,  men  of  great  fortune,  men  distinguished 
by  birth  or  merit,  should  come  together,  and  that 
they  should  erect  their  palaces  as  grand  as  them- 
selves." 

Is  it  not  incomprehensible  that  royalty  should  have 
failed  to  follow  the  advice  given  indirectly  by  Louis 
XI.,  to  make  Tours  the  capital  of  the  kingdom? 
The  Loire  could  have  been  made  navigable  to  that 
point  by  merchant  vessels  and  men-of-war  of  light 
draught,  without  great  expense.  The  seat  of  gov- 
ernment would  there  have  been  out  of  danger  from 
sudden  invasions.  The  northern  frontier  towns 
would  not  then  have  required  so  much  money  for 
fortifications,  which  alone  have  cost  the  country  as 
much  as  the  splendors  of  Versailles.  If  Louis  XIV. 
had  listened  to  the  advice  of  Vauban,  who  wished  to 
build  his  residence  at  Mont-Louis,  between  the  Loire 
and  the  Cher,  the  Revolution  of  1789  might  never 
have  taken  place. 

Those  lovely  banks  bear,  here  and  there,  marks 
of  the  royal  affection.  The  chateaux  of  Chambord, 
Blois,  Amboise,  Chenonceaux,  Chaumont,  Plessis- 
lez-Tours,  all  those  which  the  mistresses  of  our 
kings,  the  great  nobles  and  the  financiers  built  for 
themselves  at  Veretz,  Azay-le-Rideau,  Usse,  Vil- 
landri,  Valengay,  Chanteloup,  Duretal, — the  major- 
ity of  which  are  still  standing,  although  some  have 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  11/ 

disappeared, — are  noble  monuments  which  afford  an 
idea  of  the  marvels  of  that  epoch,  so  imperfectly 
understood  by  the  literary  sect  of  the  Middle-Agists. 
Of  all  these  chateaux,  that  at  Blois,  where  the 
court  was  then  established,  is  the  one  upon  which 
the  magnificence  of  the  Orleans  and  Valois  placed 
its  most  brilliant  stamp,  and  it  is  the  most  interest- 
ing to  historians,  archseologists,  and  Catholics.  It 
was  at  this  time  completely  isolated.  The  city,  sur- 
rounded by  strong  walls  with  watch-towers,  lay  at 
the  foot  of  the  fortress,  for  the  chateau  really  served 
the  purpose  of  fortress  and  pleasure-house  at  once. 
Above  the  town,  whose  crowded  houses  and  bluish 
roofs  extended  then  as  now  from  the  Loire  to  the 
crest  of  the  hill  which  rises  from  the  right  bank  of 
the  river,  is  a  triangular  plateau,  cut  from  west  to 
east  by  a  stream  which  is  of  no  importance  to-day, 
for  it  flows  under  the  town,  but  which,  in  the  fif- 
teenth century,  so  say  the  historians,  formed  a 
ravine  of  considerable  size,  of  which  there  remains 
a  deep,  sunken  road,  almost  a  chasm,  between  the 
suburbs  and  the  chateau. 

It  was  on  this  plateau  that  the  counts  of  Blois  built 
a  castle,  with  both  northern  and  southern  exposure, 
in  the  architectural  style  of  the  twelfth  century,  where 
the  famous  Thibault  le  Tricheur,  Thibault  le  Vieux, 
and  others  held  a  famous  court.  In  those  days  of  pure 
feudalism,  when  the  king  was  simply  primus  inter 
pares, — to  use  the  expressive  phrase  of  a  king  of  Po- 
land,— ^the  counts  of  Champagne,  the  counts  of  Blois, 
the  counts  of  Anjou,  the  simple  barons  of  Normandie, 


Il8  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  dukes  of  Bretagne,  lived  like  sovereigns  and  sup- 
plied kings  for  the  proudest  kingdoms.  The  Plantag- 
enets  of  Anjou,  the  Lusignans  of  Poitou,  the  Roberts 
of  Normandie,  infused  new  blood  into  royal  races  by 
their  audacity,  and  sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Du 
Glaicquin,  simple  knights  declined  the  purple,  pre- 
ferring the  sword  of  constable.  When  the  crown  an- 
nexed the  comte  of  Blois  to  its  domains,  Louis  XII., 
whose  liking  for  the  site  was  due,  perhaps,  to  its 
distance  from  Plessis,  of  sinister  memory,  erected  a 
building  with  eastern  and  western  exposure,  at  right 
angles  to  the  castle  of  the  counts  of  Blois  and  con- 
necting it  with  the  remains  of  the  still  older  build- 
ings, of  which  nothing  exists  to-day  save  the  vast 
hall  in  which  the  States-General  met  under  Henri  III. 
Before  he  became  enamored  of  Chambord,  Francois  I. 
proposed  to  add  two  other  wings,  thus  completing  the 
square;  but  Chambord  lured  him  away  from  Blois, 
and  he  built  only  one  building  there,  which,  in  his 
day,  and  for  his  grandchildren,  became  the  whole 
chateau. 

This  third  structure,  built  by  Francois  I.,  is  much 
more  extensive  and  more  ornate  than  the  Louvre, 
which  is  credited  to  Henri  II.  It  is  the  most  fanciful 
example  of  the  so-called  Renaissance  style.  So  that, 
at  a  later  period,  when  a  jealous  architecture  held 
sway  and  when  but  little  heed  was  paid  to  the 
Middle  Ages,  in  an  age  when  literature  was  not  so 
closely  connected  with  art  as  in  our  day.  La  Fon- 
taine said,  in  his  kindly  way,  of  the  chateau  of 
Blois:  "  Looking  at  it  from  without,  the  part  that 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  II9 

Franfois  I.  built  pleased  me  more  than  all  the  rest: 
there  are  quantities  of  little  galleries,  little  windows, 
little  balconies,  little  decorations,  with  no  attempt  at 
regularity  or  order;  there  is  something  grand  about 
the  whole  effect  which  pleases  me  immensely." 

Thus  the  chateau  of  Blois  had  the  merit  of  repre- 
senting three  different  types  of  architecture,  three 
periods,  three  systems,  three  dynasties.  We  may 
well  say,  therefore,  that  there  is  no  royal  abode 
comparable  to  the  chateau  of  Blois  in  that  respect. 
That  vast  pile  affords,  within  the  same  enclosure, 
the  same  courtyard,  a  complete  and  accurate  tableau 
of  that  great  representation  of  the  manners  and  life 
of  nations  which  is  called  architecture.  At  the  time 
when  Christophe  was  on  his  way  to  court,  the  part 
of  the  domain  which  at  the  present  time  is  occupied 
by  the  fourth  palace,  built  seventy  years  later  by 
Louis  XIII. 's  unruly  brother,  Gaston,  during  his  exile, 
presented  an  aggregation  of  flower-beds  and  hanging- 
gardens  picturesquely  mingled  with  the  rustic  stair- 
ways and  unfinished  walks  of  Francois  I.'s  chateau. 
These  gardens  were  connected  by  a  bridge  of  a 
beautiful,  bold  design,  which  the  old  men  of  Blois 
may  remember  to  have  seen  demolished,  with  a  gar- 
den on  the  other  side  of  the  chateau,  which  was  on 
the  same  level.  The  gentlemen  attached  to  the  ser- 
vice of  Anne  de  Bretagne,  or  those  who  came  from 
Bretagne  to  offer  petitions,  to  confer  with  her  or 
give  her  information  concerning  the  state  of  affairs 
in  that  province,  always  awaited  there  the  hour  of 
her  audiences,  her  morning  reception,  or  her  daily 


120  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDIO 

promenade.  Wherefore  history  has  given  the  name 
of  the  Perchoir  aux  Bretons  to  that  garden  which,  in 
our  day,  is  some  bourgeois's  orchard  and  projects 
into  Place  des  Jesuites.  Place  des  Jesuites  was 
then  included  in  the  gardens  of  this  superb  royal 
residence,  which  had  its  upper  gardens  and  its 
lower  gardens.  One  can  see  to  this  day,  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  Place  des  Jesuites,  a 
pavilion  built  by  Catherine  de'  Medici,  where,  ac- 
cording to  the  historians  of  Blois,  she  had  her  warm 
baths.  These  details  enable  us  to  follow  the  very 
irregular  arrangement  of  the  gardens,  which  ascended 
and  descended,  following  the  inequalities  of  the 
ground,  exceedingly  rough  and  uneven  all  about  the 
chateau, — a  fact  which  constituted  its  strength  and 
sadly  embarrassed  the  Due  de  Guise,  as  we  shall 
see.  The  gardens  were  reached  by  exterior  and 
interior  galleries,  the  principal  one  being  called  the 
Galerie  des  Cerfs,  because  of  its  ornaments.  This 
gallery  ended  at  the  magnificent  staircase  which  un- 
doubtedly inspired  the  famous  double  staircase  at 
Chambord,  and  which  led  to  the  suites  of  apartments 
on  the  different  floors. 

Although  La  Fontaine  preferred  the  chateau  of 
Frangois  I.  to  that  of  Louis  XIL,  the  ingenuous 
architecture  of  the  good  king's  edifice  will  be  likely 
to  please  true  artists,  however  much  they  may 
admire  the  magnificence  of  the  roi-clievalier.  The 
elegance  of  the  two  staircases  at  each  extremity  of 
Louis  XIL's  chateau,  the  fine,  original  carving  which 
abounded  there  and  which  time  has  sadly  marred. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  121 

although  its  remains  still  delight  the  hearts  of  an- 
tiquarians; everything,  even  to  the  quasi-cloistral 
arrangement  of  the  rooms,  discloses  extreme  sim- 
plicity of  manners.  Clearly  the  court  did  not  yet 
exist,  had  not  developed  as  it  was  destined  to  de- 
velop under  Francois  I.  and  Catherine  de'  Medici, 
to  the  great  detriment  of  feudal  manners.  As  we 
gaze  admiringly  on  the  majority  of  the  galleries, 
the  capitals  of  certain  columns,  and  divers  small 
figures  of  exquisite  delicacy,  it  is  impossible  not  to 
fancy  that  Michel  Columb,  that  great  sculptor,  the 
Michael-Angelo  of  Bretagne,  exerted  his  talents  there 
to  gratify  his  Queen  Anne,  whom  he  immortalized 
on  the  tomb  of  her  father,  the  last  due  de  Bretagne. 

Whatever  La  Fontaine  may  say,  nothing  can  be 
more  imposing  than  the  abode  of  the  ostentatious 
Francois  1.  Thanks  to  an  indefinable  brutal  indif- 
ference, to  forgetfulness  perhaps,  the  apartments 
occupied,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  by  Cath- 
erine de'  Medici  and  her  son  Francois  II.,  still  re- 
main as  they  were  then  arranged.  So  that  the 
historian  can  there  review  the  tragic  scenes  of  the 
drama  of  the  Reformation,  in  which  the  twofold 
struggle  of  the  Guises  and  Bourbons  against  the 
Valois  forms  one  of  the  most  complicated  acts.  It 
was  at  the  chateau  of  Blois  that  the  plot  of  the 
drama  was  unravelled. 

The  chateau  of  Francois  I.  entirely  overshadows 
by  its  imposing  pile  the  simple  dwelling  of  Louis  XIl. 
On  the  side  of  the  lower  gardens,  that  is  to  say,  of 
the  modern  Place  des  Jesuites,  the  chateau  is  almost 


122  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

twice  as  high  as  on  the  side  of  the  courtyard.  The 
ground-floor,  where  the  famous  galleries  are,  forms 
the  second  floor  on  the  garden  side.  Hence  the  first 
floor,  where  Catherine  was  then  installed,  is  the 
third,  and  the  royal  apartments  are  on  the  fourth 
above  the  lower  gardens,  which  in  those  days  were 
separated  from  the  foundations  by  a  deep  moat. 
Thus  the  chateau,  which  is  of  colossal  size  on  the 
courtyard,  seems  absolutely  gigantic  when  seen 
from  the  square  below  as  it  was  seen  by  La  Fon- 
taine, who  admits  that  he  did  not  enter  the  court- 
yard or  the  apartments.  From  Place  des  Jesuites 
everything  seems  small.  The  balconies  for  prom- 
enading, the  galleries,  of  marvellous  workmanship, 
the  carved  windows,  whose  recesses  are  as  large  as 
boudoirs,  and  which  were  then  used  for  boudoirs, 
resemble  the  fanciful  decorations  of  the  stage-setting 
of  our  modern  operas  when  the  scene-painters  repre- 
sent fairy  palaces.  But  in  the  courtyard,  although  the 
three  floors  above  the  ground-floor  reach  to  as  great 
a  height  as  the  Pavilion  de  I'Horloge  at  the  Tuileries, 
the  infinite  delicacy  of  the  architecture  obligingly 
reveals  itself  and  fascinates  our  marvelling  eyes. 

This  structure,  where  Catherine  and  Mary  Stuart 
were  holding  their  splendid  court,  is  divided  by  a 
hexagonal  tower  in  which  there  is  a  spiral  stone 
staircase,  a  Moorish  caprice,  conceived  by  giants, 
built  by  dwarfs,  which  gives  to  that  fajade  a  dream- 
like aspect.  The  landings  of  the  staircase  form  a 
spiral  of  square  compartments  attached  to  five  sides 
of  the  tower,  and  supported  by  transverse  corbels 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  123 

embellished  with  arabesque  carvings  without  and 
within.  This  dazzlingly  beautiful  creation  of  cun- 
ning and  delicate  details,  abounding  in  marvels 
which  endow  the  stones  with  speech,  can  be  com- 
pared only  to  the  profuse,  deep-cut  carvings  of 
Chinese  or  Dieppe  ivories.  Indeed,  the  stone  re- 
sembles lacework.  Flowers,  figures  of  men  or  ani- 
mals, cling  to  the  mouldings,  become  more  numerous 
from  step  to  step,  and  crown  the  tower  with  a 
key-stone  whereon  the  chisels  of  sixteenth-century 
art  have  contended  for  supremacy  with  the  artless 
hewers  of  images  who,  fifty  years  earlier,  carved  the 
key-stones  of  the  two  stairways  built  by  Louis  XII. 
However  dazzled  we  may  be  as  we  gaze  upon 
these  forms  repeated  with  unwearying  profusion, 
we  cannot  fail  to  observe  that  Francois  I.  lacked 
funds  at  Blois  as  Louis  XIV.  did  at  Versailles.  More 
than  one  figure  shows  its  pretty  little  head  emerg- 
ing from  a  block  of  unpolished  stone.  More  than 
one  fanciful  carving  is  simply  suggested  by  a  few 
blows  of  the  chisel  on  the  abandoned  stone,  on 
which  the  dampness  has  brought  forth  its  greenish 
mould.  On  the  front,  beside  the  delicate  lacework 
of  a  window,  the  adjoining  window  displays  its 
blocks  of  stone  marred  by  time,  which  has  carved  it 
to  suit  its  fancy.  Even  to  the  least  artistic,  least 
practised  eye,  there  is  a  fascinating  contrast  be- 
tween that  facade,  fairly  running  over  with  marvel- 
lous details,  and  the  inner  facade  of  the  chateau  of 
Louis  XII.,  consisting,  on  the  ground-floor,  of  sev- 
eral arches  of  vapory  lightness,  supported  by  slender 


124  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

columns  which  rest  below  upon  graceful  galleries,  and 
of  two  upper  floors  where  the  windows  are  carved 
with  attractive  sobriety  of  taste.  Under  the  arches 
is  a  gallery  with  frescoed  walls,  and  with  a  ceiling 
also  painted;  to  this  day  some  traces  can  be  found 
of  that  magnificent  style  of  decoration,  copied  from 
Italian  palaces,  and  reminding  one  of  the  southern 
expeditions  of  our  kings  to  whom  the  Milanese  at 
one  time  belonged. 

Opposite  the  chateau  of  Francois  1.  was  the  chapel 
of  the  counts  of  Blois,  the  facade  of  which  almost 
harmonizes  with  the  architecture  of  the  dwelling  of 
Louis  XII.  No  words  can  describe  the  majestic 
solidity  of  those  three  structures,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  decorations,  royalty, 
mighty  and  unyielding,  demonstrating  the  magnitude 
of  its  fears  by  the  magnitude  of  its  precautions, 
served  as  a  connecting  link  between  those  three 
buildings  of  entirely  different  types,  two  of  which 
were  built  against  the  enormous  hall  of  the  States- 
General,  vast  and  lofty  as  a  church.  Certainly, 
neither  the  simplicity  nor  the  strength  of  the  bour- 
geois existences  which  are  described  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  narrative,  and  in  which  art  was  always 
represented,  was  lacking  in  that  royal  abode.  Blois 
was  the  fruitful  and  shining  theme  to  which  bour- 
geoisie and  feudality,  money  and  nobility,  made  so 
many  living  rejoinders  in  town  and  country.  You 
would  not  have  had  the  residence  of  the  prince  who 
reigned  over  Paris  in  the  sixteenth  century  changed 
in  any  respect.     The  splendor  of  seignorial  apparel. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  12  5 

the  magnificent  costumes  of  women,  must  have  har- 
monized admirably  with  the  apparel  of  those  curi- 
ously carved  stones.  As  the  King  of  France  ascended 
the  marvellous  staircase  of  his  chateau  of  Blois,  from 
each  floor  he  could  see  more  and  more  of  that  noble 
Loire  which  brought  him  news  from  his  whole  king- 
dom, which  it  divided  into  two  confronting  and  semi- 
rival  portions.  If  Francois  I.,  instead  of  building 
Chambord  in  a  sterile,  gloomy  plain  two  leagues 
away,  had  built  it  at  right  angles  to  the  chateau,  on 
the  space  then  occupied  by  the  gardens  upon  which 
Gaston  afterward  built  his  palace,  Versailles  would 
never  have  been  heard  of,  and  Blois  would  neces- 
sarily have  been  the  capital  of  France.  Four  Valois 
and  Catherine  de'  Medici  lavished  their  treasures 
on  the  chateau  of  Francois  I.  at  Blois;  but  how  can 
one  fail  to  realize  how  lavish  the  crown  must  have 
been  there,  as  he  gazes  with  admiration  at  the  mas- 
sive partition-walls,  the  spinal  column  of  the  chateau, 
which  contain  deep  recesses  and  secret  stairways 
and  cabinets,  and  which  enclose  halls  as  vast  as  the 
Salle  de  Conseil  or  Salle  des  Gardes,  and  royal 
apartments  in  which,  in  our  day,  a  company  of 
infantry  is  easily  accommodated  ? 

Even  if  the  visitor  should  not  realize  at  once  that 
the  marvels  within  corresponded  to  the  marvels 
without,  the  remains  of  Catherine  de'  Medici's 
cabinet,  into  which  Christophe  was  soon  to  be  ush- 
ered, would  sufficiently  attest  the  refined  character 
of  the  art  which  peopled  those  apartments  with  life- 
like designs,  in  which  salamanders  gleamed  among 


126  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

the  flowers,  and  the  palette  of  the  sixteenth  century 
illumined  the  darkest  corners  with  its  most  brilliant 
coloring.  In  this  cabinet  the  observer  can  find  to 
this  day  traces  of  the  taste  for  gilding  which  Cath- 
erine brought  from  Italy,  for  the  princesses  of  her 
family,  to  employ  the  delightful  expression  of  the 
author  already  quoted,  loved  to  veneer  the  French 
chateau  with  the  gold  amassed  in  trade  by  their 
ancestors,  and  they  left  the  signature  of  their  wealth 
on  the  walls  of  the  royal  apartments. 

The  queen-mother  occupied  the  apartments  on  the 
first  floor  formerly  occupied  by  Queen  Claude  of 
France,  wife  of  Frangois  I.,  where  may  still  be  seen 
the  two  delicately  carved  C's  surrounded  by  swans 
and  lilies  of  spotless  whiteness,  signifying  Candidior 
candidis, — whiter  than  the  whitest, — the  device  of 
that  queen,  whose  name,  like  Catherine's,  began 
with  a  C  ;  a  device  which  may  be  as  fittingly  applied 
to  the  mother  of  the  last  Valois  kings  as  to  the 
daughter  of  Louis  XII.;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
virulence  of  Calvinist  slanders,  no  breath  of  sus- 
picion has  ever  tarnished  Catherine  de'  Medici's 
loyalty  to  Henri  II. 

Of  course,  the  queen-mother,  two  of  her  children 
being  still  quite  young, — he  who  was  afterward  the 
Due  d'AIenfon,  and  Marguerite,  wife  of  Henri  IV., 
whom  Charles  IX.  called  Margot, — required  all  of 
the  first  floor. 

King  Francois  II.  and  Queen  Mary  Stuart  occu- 
pied the  royal  apartments  on  the  second  floor,  for- 
merly occupied  by  Francois  I.  and  subsequently  by 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  1 27 

Henri  III.  The  royal  suite,  like  that  occupied  by 
the  queen-mother,  is  divided  into  two  parts,  from 
end  to  end  of  the  chateau,  by  the  famous  partition 
wall,  about  four  feet  thick,  against  which  rest  the 
other  massive  walls  which  separate  the  different 
rooms.  Thus,  on  the  first  and  second  floors  alike, 
the  suites  contain  two  distinct  halves.  The  half 
looking  to  the  south,  on  the  courtyard,  was  given 
over  to  reception-rooms  and  rooms  for  the  transac- 
tion of  public  affairs;  whereas,  to  avoid  the  heat, 
the  sleeping  apartments  were  distributed  through  the 
portion  looking  toward  the  north,  with  the  superb 
facade  embellished  with  balconies  and  galleries,  and 
overlooking  the  open  fields  of  the  Vendomois,  the 
Perchoir  aux  Bretons,  and  the  moats  of  the  town — 
the  only  side  of  which  our  great  fabulist  La  Fontaine 
speaks. 

The  chateau  of  Francois  I.  was  at  that  time  termi- 
nated by  an  immense  unfinished  tower  which  was  to 
have  formed  the  apex  of  the  colossal  angle  which  the 
palace  would  have  described  when  the  other  pro- 
jected wing  was  built ;  Gaston  afterward  dug  into 
the  tower  in  order  to  weld  his  palace  to  it ;  but  he 
did  not  finish  his  work,  and  the  tower  has  always 
remained  in  ruins.  According  to  popular  tradition, 
that  royal  keep  was  used  as  a  prison  or  dungeon  at 
the  time  of  which  we  write.  What  poet,  as  he 
wanders  to-day  tlirough  the  halls  of  that  magnifi- 
cent chateau,  so  precious  to  art  and  to  history,  can 
avoid  innumerable  regrets,  for  art  and  for  France, 
when  he  sees  the  lovely  arabesques  of  Catherine's 


128  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

cabinet  whitewashed  and  almost  destroyed  by  the 
orders  of  the  commandant  of  the  barracks — that 
royal  abode  is  now  a  barrack ! — at  the  time  of  the 
cholera.  The  wainscoting  of  Catherine  de'  Medici's 
cabinet,  of  which  we  shall  soon  have  something 
more  to  say,  is  the  last  relic  of  the  sumptuous  fur- 
nishings accumulated  by  five  artist  kings.  As  we 
wander  through  that  labyrinth  of  bedrooms,  halls, 
staircases,  and  towers,  we  can  say  to  ourselves  with 
awful  certainty:  "  Here  Mary  Stuart  cajoled  her  hus- 
band for  the  benefit  of  the  Guises.  There  the  Guises 
insulted  Catherine.  Later,  on  this  spot,  the  second 
Balafre  fell  beneath  the  blows  of  the  avengers  of 
the  crown.  A  century  earlier,  Louis  XIL  beckoned 
from  this  window  to  Cardinal  d'Amboise,  his  friend. 
From  this  balcony,  d'Epernon,  Ravaillac's  accom- 
plice, greeted  Queen  Marie  de'  Medici,  who  knew,  it 
was  said,  of  the  projected  regicide  and  allowed  it  to 
be  committed!" — In  the  chapel  where  the  betrothal 
of  Henri  IV.  and  Marguerite  de  Valois  was  celebrated, 
the  only  remnant  of  the  chateau  of  the  counts  of 
Blois,  the  shoes  for  the  regiment  are  made  to-day. 
That  marvellous  edifice,  in  which  so  many  styles  of 
architecture  are  typified,  where  such  momentous 
deeds  have  been  performed,  is  in  a  state  of  dilapida- 
tion which  is  a  disgrace  to  France.  How  it  pains 
those  who  love  the  monuments  of  ancient  France  to 
know  that  ere  long  those  eloquent  stones  will  share 
the  fate  of  the  corner  of  Rue  de  la  Vieille-Pelleterie:  it 
may  be  that  they  no  longer  exist  save  in  these  pages! 
It  is  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  I29 

although  the  Guises  had  a  palace  of  their  own  in 
the  town  of  Blois, — it  is  still  in  existence,  by  the 
way, — they  had  obtained  permission,  in  order  to 
keep  a  closer  watch  upon  the  court,  to  live  above 
the  apartments  of  King  Louis  XII.,  in  the  quarters 
under  the  eaves  which  the  Duchesse  de  Nemours 
was  to  occupy  at  a  later  period. 

Young  Francois  II.  and  his  young  queen  Mary 
Stuart,  wildly  in  love  with  each  other,  like  the  chil- 
dren of  sixteen  that  they  were,  had  been  uncer- 
emoniously transported,  in  the  middle  of  winter, 
from  the  chateau  of  Saint-Germain,  which  seemed 
to  the  Due  de  Guise  too  readily  open  to  surprise,  to 
the  sort  of  fortress  which  the  chateau  of  Blois  then 
was,  being  isolated  on  three  sides  by  precipices, 
while  the  fourth  side  was  exceedingly  well  pro- 
tected. The  Guises,  who  were  the  queen's  uncles, 
had  stronger  reasons  than  the  one  given  for  not 
living  in  Paris,  and  for  keeping  the  court  in  a  cha- 
teau whose  walls  could  easily  be  watched  and  de- 
fended. A  conflict  was  in  progress  about  the  throne, 
between  the  House  of  Lorraine  and  the  House  of 
Valois,  a  conflict  which  was  not  ended  until  the  day, 
twenty-eight  years  later,  in  1588,  when  Henri  III., 
in  that  same  chateau,  under  the  very  eyes  of  his 
mother,  who  was  at  that  moment  profoundly  humil- 
iated by  the  Lorraines,  heard  the  fall  of  the  boldest 
of  all  the  Guises,  the  second  Balafre,  son  of  the 
first  Balafre,  by  whom  Catherine  de'  Medici  was,  at 
the  time  this  narrative  opens,  being  played  with, 
imprisoned,  closely  watched,  and  threatened. 
9 


I30  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

For  this  noble  chateau  of  Blois  was  to  Catherine 
the  most  cramped  of  prisons.  On  the  death  of  her 
husband,  by  whom  she  had  been  held  in  leash,  she 
had  hoped  to  reign;  but  she  found  herself,  on  the 
contrary,  practically  held  in  bondage  by  strangers 
whose  polished  manners  were  immeasurably  more 
brutal  than  those  of  a  jailer.  Nothing  that  she  did 
could  be  kept  secret.  Those  of  her  women  who 
were  devoted  to  her  either  had  lovers  who  were  de- 
voted to  the  Guises  or  had  Argus-eyed  spies  about 
them.  Indeed,  in  those  days,  the  play  of  passions 
presented  the  strange  effects  which  will  always  re- 
sult from  the  antagonism  of  two  powerful  opposing 
interests  in  the  State.  Gallantry,  which  served 
Catherine  so  well,  was  also  one  of  the  instruments 
employed  by  the  Guises.  For  instance,  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  the  first  leader  of  the  Reformation,  was 
the  lover  of  the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre,  whose 
husband  was  the  grand  master's  ame  damme.  The 
cardinal,  persuaded  by  the  affair  of  the  Vidame  de 
Chartres  that  Catherine  was  unconquered  rather  than 
unconquerable,  was  paying  his  court  to  her.  Thus 
the  play  of  all  the  passions  strangely  complicated  the 
game  of  politics,  making  of  it  a  sort  of  double  game 
of  chess,  in  which  it  was  necessary  to  watch  both  the 
head  and  the  heart  of  a  man  to  make  sure  that,  in  an 
emergency,  one  would  not  overrule  the  other. 

Although  Catherine  was  constantly  confronted  by 
the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  or  by  Due  Francois  de 
Guise,  who  distrusted  her,  her  most  bitter  and  clev- 
erest enemy  was  her  daughter-in-law,  Queen  Mary, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  13I 

a  little  blonde,  mischievous  as  a  soubrette,  proud 
as  a  Stuart  who  wore  three  crowns,  well-informed  as 
an  old  scholar,  sly  as  a  boarding-school  miss,  in  love 
with  her  husband  as  a  courtesan  is  with  her  lover, 
devoted  to  her  uncles,  whom  she  admired,  and  de- 
lighted to  find  that  King  Francois,  assisted  by  her 
suggestions,  shared  her  good  opinion  of  them.  A 
mother-in-law  is  always  a  person  whom  a  daughter- 
in-law  does  not  adore,  especially  when  she  has  worn 
the  crown  and  wishes  to  retain  it,  a  wish  which  the 
imprudent  Catherine  had  not  taken  sufficient  pains 
to  conceal.  Even  her  former  situation,  when  Diane 
de  Poitiers  reigned  over  Henri  II.,  was  more  endur- 
able: then  she  received  at  least  the  honors  due  to  a 
queen  and  the  respect  of  the  court;  whereas,  at  this 
moment,  the  duke  and  the  cardinal,  who  had  none 
but  their  creatures  about  them,  seemed  to  take 
pleasure  in  humiliating  her.  Catherine,  beset  by 
courtiers,  received,  not  daily,  but  hourly,  affronts 
which  wounded  her  self-esteem;  for  the  Guises 
were  determined  to  continue  with  her  the  system  of 
treatment  which  the  late  king  had  adopted. 


The  thirty-six  years  of  disasters  which  devastated 
France  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  scene  in 
which  the  furrier's  son  had  been  assigned  the  most 
perilous  of  roles,  and  which  makes  him  the  princi- 
pal figure  in  this  Study.  The  peril  into  which  that 
zealous  reformer  was  about  to  fall  became  flagrant 
on  the  very  morning  when  he  left  the  pier  at  Beau- 
gency,  entrusted  with  valuable  documents  which 
compromised  the  most  exalted  heads  among  the  no- 
bility, and  set  sail  for  Blois,  accompanied  by  a  crafty 
partisan,  the  indefatigable  La  Renaudie,  who  was  at 
the  pier  before  him. 

While  the  boat  on  which  Christophe  had  em- 
barked floated  down  the  river,  impelled  by  a  gentle 
east  wind,  the  famous  Cardinal  Charles  de  Lorraine 
and  the  second  Due  de  Guise,  one  of  the  greatest 
warriors  of  that  age,  were  contemplating  their 
position,  like  two  eagles  on  the  summit  of  a  cliff, 
and  looking  prudently  about  them  before  striking 
the  great  blow  by  which  they  tried  to  kill  the  Refor- 
mation once  and  for  all,  at  Amboise,  and  which  was 
repeated  in  Paris  twelve  years  later,  on  the  24th  of 
August,  1572. 

During   the   night,  three   noblemen  who   played 

prominent  parts  in  the  twelve  years'  drama  which 

followed    this   double    conspiracy,   plotted   by  the 

Guises  and  by  the  Reformers  alike,  had  arrived  at 

(133) 


134  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  chateau,  riding  at  full  speed,  and  had  left  their 
horses  half-dead  at  the  postern,  which  was  guarded 
by  officers  and  soldiers  absolutely  devoted  to  the 
Due  de  Guise,  the  idol  of  all  men  of  war. 

A  word  concerning  that  great  man — a  word  to  tell 
us,  first  of  all,  how  he  was  situated  at  that  moment. 

His  mother  was  Antoinette  de  Bourbon,  grandaunt 
of  Henri  IV.  Of  how  little  account  is  blood  relation- 
ship! at  that  moment  he  was  aiming  at  the  head  of 
his  cousin  the  Prince  de  Conde.  Mary  Stuart  was  his 
niece.  His  wife  was  Anne,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara.  The  great  Constable  Anne  de  Montmo- 
rency addressed  the  Due  de  Guise  when  he  wrote 
him  as  "  Monseigneur,"  as  he  would  address  a  king, 
and  concluded:  "Your  very  humble  servant." — 
Guise,  grand  master  of  the  king's  household,  reply- 
ing to  him,  wrote:  "Monsieur  le  Connetable,"  and 
signed  as  he  would  sign  a  communication  to  the 
Parliament:  "  Your  very  good  friend." 

As  for  the  cardinal,  who  was  known  as  the  Trans- 
alpine Pope,  and  whom  Estienne  calls  "  His  Holi- 
ness," he  had  the  whole  monastic  portion  of  the 
Church  in  France  at  his  service,  and  dealt  with 
the  Holy  Father  as  an  equal.  Vain  of  his  elo- 
quence, he  was  one  of  the  subtlest  theologians  of 
his  time  and  maintained  a  close  watch  upon  France 
and  Italy  at  once  by  means  of  three  religious  orders 
which  were  absolutely  devoted  to  him,  travelled  for 
him  day  and  night,  and  acted  as  his  spies  and 
advisers. 

These  few  words  will  explain  to  what  great  power 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 35 

the  cardinal  and  the  duke  had  attained.  Despite  their 
wealth  and  the  revenues  of  their  offices,  they  were 
so  entirely  disinterested  or  so  irresistibly  borne  on 
by  the  current  of  politics,  so  generous,  too,  that  both 
of  them  were  in  debt,  doubtless  after  C£esar's  fashion. 
So,  when  Henri  III.  procured  the  death  of  the  second 
Balafre,  whose  life  was  a  constant  menace  to  him, 
the  House  of  Guise  was  necessarily  ruined.  The 
money  expended  in  a  century  for  the  purpose  of 
seizing  the  crown  explains  the  abasement  of  this 
family  under  Louis  XIII.  and  Louis  XIV.  at  the  time 
when  Madame's*  sudden  death  made  known  to  all 
Europe  to  what  an  infamous  role  a  Chevalier  de 
Lorraine  had  descended. 

Claiming  to  be  heirs  of  the  dethroned  Carlo- 
vingians,  the  duke  and  the  cardinal  treated  Cather- 
ine de'  Medici,  their  niece's  mother-in-law,  with  the 
utmost  insolence.  The  Duchesse  de  Guise  spared 
Catherine  no  mortification.  She  was  a  D'Este,  and 
Catherine  was  a  Medici,  the  descendant  of  parvenu 
Florentine  tradesmen,  whom  the  sovereigns  of  Eu- 
rope had  not  as  yet  admitted  into  their  royal  brother- 
hood. For  that  reason,  Franfois  I.  had  looked  upon 
his  son's  marriage  with  a  Medici  as  a  mesalliance, 
and  had  permitted  it  only  because  he  did  not  think 
that  that  son  would  ever  be  dauphin.  Hence  his 
frantic  rage  when  the  dauphin  was  poisoned  by  the 
Florentine  Montecuculli.     The  D'Estes  declined  to 


*  Henrietta  of  England,  daughter  of  Charles  I.,  and  first  wife  of  Philip,  Due 
d'Orleans,  brother  of  Louis  XIV.  She  is  supposed  to  have  been  poisoned  by 
the  Chevalier  de  Lorraine. 


136  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

recognize  the  Medicis  as  Italian  princes.  Those 
sometime  tradesmen  were,  in  fact,  trying  to  solve 
the  impossible  problem — how  to  maintain  a  throne 
encompassed  by  republican  institutions.  Not  until 
long  after,  did  Philip  II.  of  Spain  accord  the  title  of 
grand  duke  to  the  Medicis,  who  purchased  it  by  be- 
traying France,  their  benefactress,  and  by  a  servile 
attachment  to  the  court  of  Spain,  which  secretly 
thwarted  their  plans  in  Italy. 

"Caress  your  enemies  only!" — That  profound 
remark  of  Catherine's  seems  to  have  been  the 
political  gospel  of  that  family  of  tradesmen,  which 
did  not  lack  great  men  until  the  moment  when  its 
destiny  became  great,  and  which  underwent  a  little 
too  soon  that  degeneration  which  finally  overtakes 
royal  races  and  great  families. 

For  three  generations  there  had  been  a  Lorraine 
warrior  and  a  Lorraine  churchman;  and,  what  may 
appear  even  more  extraordinary,  all  the  churchmen, 
including  Cardinal  Charles,  bore  a  strong  facial  re- 
semblance to  Ximenes,  whom  Cardinal  de  Richelieu 
also  resembled.  These  five  cardinals  all  had  cun- 
ning and  at  the  same  time  awe-inspiring  faces; 
whereas  the  warriors'  faces  were  of  the  Basque 
mountaineer  type,  which  is  also  recognizable  in 
Henri  IV.;  but  both  father  and  son  bore  scars 
which  did  not  deprive  them  of  the  charm  and  affa- 
bility of  expression  by  which  they  won  the  hearts  of 
their  soldiers  no  less  than  by  their  great  courage. 

It  may  be  useful  to  tell  how  and  where  the  grand 
master  received  that  wound,  for  it  was  cured  by  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 37 

daring  skill  of  one  of  the  characters  in  this  drama, 
Ambroise  Pare,  to  whom  we  have  referred  as  being 
indebted  to  the  syndic  of  the  guild  of  furriers.  At  the 
siege  of  Calais,  the  duke's  face  was  pierced  from  side 
to  side  by  a  lance-thrust;  the  head  of  the  weapon 
entered  the  cheek  below  the  right  eye,  emerged  at 
the  back  of  the  neck  below  the  left  ear,  and  remained 
in  the  wound.  The  duke  lay  in  his  tent,  amid  gen- 
eral dismay,  and  would  have  died  but  for  the  bold 
action  and  the  unhesitating  devotion  of  Ambroise 
Pare. 

"  The  duke  is  not  dead,  messieurs,"  said  Am- 
broise, looking  about  at  the  weeping  attendants; 
"  but  he  will  die  ere  long,"  he  continued,  "  unless  I 
dare  to  treat  him  as  already  dead,  and  I  am  going  to 
venture,  at  the  risk  of  whatever  may  happen  to  me. 
Look!" 

He  placed  his  left  foot  on  the  duke's  chest,  seized 
the  wooden  shaft  of  the  lance  in  his  fingers,  slowly 
worked  it  back  and  forth,  and  at  last  drew  it  from 
the  duke's  head,  as  if  he  were  dealing  with  a  thing, 
not  a  man.  Although  he  cured  the  prince  by  his 
audacious  treatment,  he  could  not  do  away  with  the 
horrible  scar  which  gave  rise  to  his  sobriquet.*  For 
a  like  reason,  the  same  sobriquet  was  given  to  his 
son. 

Being  absolute  masters  of  King  Francois  II.,  over 
whom  his  wife  held  sway  by  virtue  of  a  passionate 
mutual  love  of  which  they  knew  how  to  take  ad- 
vantage, the  two  great  Lorraine  princes  really  ruled 

•  LeBalafre,  the  Scarred. 


138  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

France,  and  had  no  other  foe  at  court  than  Cath- 
erine de'  Medici.  Never  did  politicians  play  a  more 
wary  game. 

The  respective  positions  of  the  ambitious  widow 
of  Henri  II.  and  of  the  ambitious  House  of  Lorraine 
were  well  exemplified  by  the  places  they  occupied 
on  the  terrace  of  the  chateau  during  the  morning 
when  Christophe  was  to  arrive.  The  queen-mother, 
who  affected  a  very  warm  attachment  to  the  Guises, 
had  asked  to  be  informed  of  the  news  brought  by 
the  three  noblemen  who  had  arrived  from  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom;  but  she  had  the  mortification 
of  being  politely  dismissed  by  the  cardinal.  She 
was  walking  at  the  end  of  the  gardens,  toward  the 
Loire,  where  she  was  building,  for  her  astrologer 
Ruggieri,  an  observatory  which  can  still  be  seen, 
and  from  which  one  may  overlook  the  whole  of  that 
lovely  valley.  The  two  Lorraines  were  at  the  oppo- 
site end,  which  overlooked  the  Vendomois,  and  from 
which  one  could  see  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  the 
Perchoir  aux  Bretons,  and  the  postern  of  the  cha- 
teau. Catherine  had  deceived  the  two  brothers  and 
hoodwinked  them  by  her  feigned  dissatisfaction,  for 
she  was  really  very  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  speak 
with  one  of  the  three  men  who  had  arrived  in  such 
haste,  her  secret  confidant,  who  was  boldly  playing 
a  double  game,  for  which,  however,  he  was  cer- 
tainly well  rewarded.  This  nobleman  was  Chiverni, 
apparently  a  devoted  servant  of  the  Cardinal  de 
Lorraine,  in  reality  a  devoted  servant  of  Catherine. 
Catherine   also   had  two  faithful   retainers  in   the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 39 

Gondis,  her  creatures;  but  those  two  Florentines 
were  the  object  of  too  much  suspicion  on  the  part  of 
the  Guises  for  her  to  send  them  abroad;  so  she  kept 
them  at  court,  where  their  every  word  and  act  were 
watched,  but  where  they  also  watched  the  Guises 
and  advised  Catherine.  There  was  another  Italian 
named  Birague  whom  the  two  Gondis  held  firm  in 
his  allegiance  to  the  queen;  he  was  a  cunning  Pied- 
montese,  who  pretended,  like  Chiverni,  to  have 
abandoned  the  queen-mother  for  the  Guises,  and 
who  encouraged  them  in  their  undertakings  while 
acting  as  a  spy  upon  them  for  Catherine's  benefit. 
Chiverni  had  come  from  Ecouen  and  Paris.  The 
last  to  arrive  was  Saint-Andre,  who  was  a  marshal 
of  France,  and  who  became  so  great  a  personage 
that  the  Guises,  whose  creature  he  was,  took  him 
for  the  third  member  of  the  triumvirate  which  they 
formed  in  the  following  year  against  Catherine. 
Before  them  came  the  man  who  built  the  chateau  of 
Duretal,  Vieilleville,  who  was  also  made  a  marshal 
for  his  devotion  to  the  Guises;  he  had  arrived 
secretly,  departed  again  even  more  secretly,  and 
no  one  had  penetrated  the  secret  of  the  mission 
which  the  grand  master  had  entrusted  to  him. 
Saint-Andre  had  been  instructed  to  take  certain 
military  measures  intended  to  attract  all  the  re- 
formers under  arms  to  Amboise,  as  the  result  of 
a  conference  held  by  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  the 
Due  de  Guise,  Chiverni,  Birague,  Vieilleville,  and 
Saint-Andre.  As  the  two  chiefs  of  the  House  of  Lor- 
raine chose  to  employ  Birague,  it  is  to  be  supposed 


140  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

that  they  were  confident  of  their  ground,  for  they 
knew  that  he  was  in  the  queen-mother's  service; 
but  it  may  be  that  they  kept  him  at  hand  in  order 
to  penetrate  their  rival's  secret  designs, — that  is  to 
say,  for  the  same  reason  that  she  left  him  with 
them.  At  that  interesting  epoch,  the  double  r6Ie 
played  by  some  politicians  was  well  known  to  both 
of  the  parties  which  employed  them,  and  they  were 
like  cards  in  the  hands  of  gamblers;  the  game  was 
won  by  the  shrewdest  player.  During  the  confer- 
ence, the  brothers  had  maintained  an  impenetrable 
reserve.  Catherine's  conversation  with  her  friends 
will  explain  fully  the  object  of  that  council  held  by 
the  Guises  in  the  open  air,  at  daybreak,  in  those 
hanging  gardens,  as  if  they  were  all  afraid  to  speak 
between  the  walls  of  the  chateau  of  Blois. 

The  queen-mother,  who,  on  the  pretext  of  exam- 
ining the  observatory  which  was  being  constructed 
for  her  astrologer,  had  been  walking  in  the  garden 
since  early  morning  with  the  two  Gondis,  watching 
the  hostile  group  with  an  anxious  and  inquisitive 
eye,  was  joined  by  Chiverni.  She  was  at  the 
corner  of  the  terrace  toward  the  Church  of  Saint- 
Nicholas,  and  there  she  need  fear  no  eavesdropping. 
The  wall  is  on  the  level  of  the  church-towers,  and 
the  Guises  were  still  taking  counsel  together  at  the 
other  corner  of  the  terrace,  by  the  foot  of  the  un- 
finished keep,  walking  back  and  forth  from  the 
Perchoir  aux  Bretons  to  the  gallery  by  the  bridge 
connecting  the  garden,  the  gallery,  and  the  perchoir. 
No  one  was  in  the  chasm  which  separated  the  two 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  141 

groups.  Chiverni  raised  the  queen-mother's  hand 
to  kiss  it,  and  slipped  into  it  a  little  note,  unseen  by 
the  two  Italians.  Catherine  hastily  turned  away, 
walked  to  the  corner  of  the  parapet,  and  read  these 
words : 

"  You  are  powerful  enough  to  hold  the  balance  between  the 
great  nobles,  and  make  them  contend  with  one  another  as  to 
who  shall  serve  you  best ;  you  have  a  family  of  kings,  and 
you  have  no  reason  to  fear  either  Lorraines  or  Bourbons  if 
you  set  them  against  one  another;  for  they  are  equally  de- 
sirous to  steal  the  crown  from  your  children.  Be  the  mistress, 
not  the  slave,  of  your  advisers;  hold  one  party  in  check  by 
the  other ;  otherwise  the  kingdom  will  go  from  bad  to  worse, 
and  bloody  wars  may  be  the  result. 

"  L'HOPITAL." 

The  queen  put  the  paper  in  her  bosom,  proposing 
to  burn  it  as  soon  as  she  should  be  alone. 

"  When  did  you  see  him?"  she  asked  Chiverni. 

"  On  returning  from  a  visit  to  the  constable  at 
Melun,  which  place  he  passed  through  with  Madame 
la  Duchesse  de  Berri,  whom  he  was  very  impatient 
to  deposit  safely  in  Savoie,  before  returning  here  to 
enlighten  Chancellor  Olivier,  who,  by  the  way,  is 
hoodwinked  by  the  Lorraines.  Monsieur  de  I'HSpital 
has  decided  to  espouse  your  cause  because  he  sees 
the  goal  toward  which  Messieurs  de  Guise  are  tend- 
ing. So  that  he  proposes  to  return  with  the  utmost 
haste  in  order  to  give  you  his  vote  in  the  council." 

**  Is  he  sincere?"  queried  Catherine.  '*  The  Lor- 
raines put  him  into  the  council,  you  know,  and  it 
must  have  been  to  help  them  control  matters  there." 


142  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  L'HSpital  is  a  Frenchman  of  too  good  stock  not 
to  be  honest,"  said  Chiverni ;  "  at  all  events,  his 
note  is  a  sufficiently  binding  engagement." 

"  What  is  the  constable's  reply  to  these  Lor- 
raines?" 

"  He  says  that  he  is  the  king's  servant  and  will 
await  his  orders.  Upon  that  reply,  the  cardinal,  to 
forestall  all  resistance,  will  propose  that  his  brother 
be  appointed  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom." 

"Already!"  exclaimed  Catherine,  in  dismay. 
"Well,  did  Monsieur  de  I'Hopital  give  you  any 
other  advice  for  me?" 

"  He  said  to  me  that  you  alone,  madame,  could 
stand  between  the  crown  and  Messieurs  de  Guise." 

"  But  does  he  think  that  I  can  use  the  Huguenots 
as  chevaux  defrise .?" 

"Ah!  madame,"  cried  Chiverni,  surprised  at  such 
perspicacity,  "we  had  no  thought  of  plunging  you 
into  such  difficulties." 

"  Did  he  know  what  my  present  position  is.?" 
asked  the  queen,  calmly. 

"  Very  nearly.  He  considers  that  you  made  a 
fool's  bargain  when,  at  the  late  king's  death,  you 
accepted  for  your  share  the  bribe  of  Madame 
Diane's  ruin.  Messieurs  de  Guise  thought  they 
had  avoided  all  obligation  to  the  queen  by  gratifying 
the  woman." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  queen,  glancing  at  the  two  Gon- 
dis,  "  1  made  a  great  blunder  then." 

"  Such  a  blunder  as  the  gods  make!"  rejoined 
Charles  de  Gondi. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  I43 

"  Messieurs,"  said  tlie  queen,  "  if  I  go  over  openly 
to  the  reformers,  I  shall  become  the  slave  of  a  party." 

"Madame,"  replied  Chiverni,  eagerly,  "1  en- 
tirely agree  with  you;  you  must  make  them  serve 
you,  not  you  them." 

"Although,  for  the  moment,  they  are  your  surest 
reliance,"  said  Charles  de  Gondi,  "  we  do  not  close 
our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  success  and  defeat  with 
their  support  are  equally  perilous." 

"I  know  it!"  said  the  queen.  "A  single  false 
step  will  be  instantly  seized  upon  by  the  Guises  as 
a  pretext  to  get  rid  of  me!" 

"  The  niece  of  a  Pope,  the  mother  of  four  Valois, 
a  queen  of  France,  the  widow  of  the  most  zealous 
persecutor  of  the  Huguenots,  an  Italian  Catholic, 
the  aunt  of  Leo  X., — can  such  a  one  form  an  alli- 
ance with  the  Reformation?"  queried  Charles  de 
Gondi. 

"  But  if  we  do  not  resist  the  Guises,  do  we  not 
lend  our  hands  to  an  act  of  usurpation?"  replied 
Albert.  "  You  have  to  deal  with  a  family  which 
sees  an  opportunity  to  snatch  a  crown  in  the  strug- 
gle between  Catholicism  and  the  Reformed  religion. 
We  can  accept  the  support  of  the  reformers  without 
abjuring  our  faith." 

"  Consider,  madame,  that  your  own  family,  which 
should  be  entirely  in  the  interest  of  the  King  of 
France,  is  the  slave  of  the  King  of  Spain!"  said 
Chiverni.  "  It  would  be  for  the  Reformation  to- 
morrow if  the  Reformation  could  make  the  Duke 
of  Florence  a  king." 


144  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

*'  I  am  quite  disposed  to  lend  a  hand  for  a  moment 
to  the  Huguenots,"  said  Catherine,  "  if  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  be  revenged  on  that  soldier,  that 
priest,  and  that  woman!" 

She  indicated  one  after  another,  with  a  genuine 
Italian's  glance,  the  duke,  the  cardinal,  and  the  floor 
of  the  chateau  on  which  were  the  apartments  of  her 
son  and  Mary  Stuart. 

"That  trio  has  taken  the  reins  of  State  from  my 
hands,  for  which  I  waited  so  long  and  which  that  old 
hag  held  in  my  stead,"  she  added. 

She  nodded  her  head  in  the  direction  of  the  Loire, 
toward  Chenonceaux,  the  chateau  which  she  had 
taken  from  Diane  de  Poitiers  in  exchange  for  Chau- 
mont. 

"Mz,"  she  said  in  Italian,  "  it  seems  that  the 
ruffed  gentry  at  Geneva  are  not  clever  enough 
to  apply  to  me! — By  my  conscience,  I  cannot  go  to 
them.  Not  one  of  you  could  venture  to  carry  a 
message  to  them." 

She  stamped  on  the  ground. 

"  I  hoped  that  you  could  have  met  the  hunchback 
at  Ecouen;  he  has  some  brains  in  his  head,"  she 
said  to  Chiverni. 

**  He  was  there,  madame;  but  he  could  not  suc- 
ceed in  persuading  the  constable  to  make  common 
cause  with  him.  Monsieur  de  Montmorency  is  will- 
ing enough  to  overthrow  the  Guises,  who  were  re- 
sponsible for  his  disgrace,  but  he  will  do  nothing  to 
aid  heresy." 

"Messieurs,  who  will  crush  these  individual  wills 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  I45 

which  embarrass  the  designs  of  royalty?  Great 
God !  we  must  make  these  great  men  destroy  one 
another,  as  was  done  by  Louis  XL,  the  greatest  of 
your  kings.  There  are  four  or  five  parties  in  this 
kingdom,  and  my  children's  party  is  the  weakest  of 
them  all." 

"The  Reformation  is  an  idea,"  said  Charles  de 
Gondi,  "  and  the  parties  that  Louis  XL  crushed 
were  held  together  only  by  interest." 

"  There  are  always  ideas  behind  interests,"  re- 
joined Chiverni.  "  Under  Louis  XL,  the  idea  was 
called  the  great  fiefs." 

'*  Use  heresy  as  an  axe!"  said  Albert  de  Gondi; 
"you  will  not  incur  the  odium  of  executions." 

"  But,"  cried  the  queen,  "  I  know  nothing  of  the 
resources  or  the  plans  of  these  people,  I  have  no 
reliable  method  of  communicating  with  them.  If  I 
were  surprised  in  any  machination  of  this  sort, 
either  by  the  queen,  who  follows  me  with  her  eyes 
like  a  child  in  the  cradle,  or  by  her  two  jailers,  who 
allow  no  one  to  enter  the  chateau,  1  should  be  ban- 
ished from  the  kingdom  and  sent  back  to  Florence 
with  a  terrible  escort,  commanded  by  some  fanatical 
Guisard  !  Thanks,  my  friends. — Ah!  my  daughter- 
in-law,  I  trust  that  you  will  some  day  be  a  prisoner 
in  your  own  house,  then  you  will  know  how  you 
have  made  me  suffer!" 

"  The  grand  master  and  the  cardinal  know  all 
their  plans,"  exclaimed  Chiverni ;  "  but  those  two 
foxes  will  not  tell  them.  Find  a  way,  madame,  to 
make  them  tell  what  they  know,  and  I  will  sacrifice 


146  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

myself  for  you  by  coming  to  terms  with  the  Prince 
de  Conde." 

**  Which  of  their  own  plans  were  those  men 
unable  to  conceal  from  you?"  asked  the  queen, 
pointing  to  the  two  brothers. 

"Monsieur  de  Vieilleville  and  Monsieur  de  Saint- 
Andre  have  received  orders  of  which  we  know 
nothing;  but  it  seems  that  the  grand  master  is  con- 
centrating his  best  troops  on  the  left  bank.  Within 
a  few  days  you  will  be  at  Amboise.  The  grand 
master  came  to  this  terrace  to  examine  the  lay 
of  the  land,  and  does  not  consider  Blois  favorably 
situated  for  the  execution  of  his  secret  plans.  Now, 
what  can  he  possibly  want?"  said  Chiverni,  pointing 
to  the  precipices  by  which  the  chateau  is  surrounded. 
"  The  court  can  be  no  more  secure  from  a  sudden 
attack  anywhere  on  earth  than  in  this  place." 

"Abdicate  or  reign!"  exclaimed  Albert  in  the  ear 
of  the  queen,  who  was  lost  in  thought. 

A  terrible  expression  of  inward  rage  passed  over 
her  beautiful  ivory-white  face;  she  was  not  yet 
forty  years  old,  and  had  lived  twenty-six  years  at 
the  court  of  France,  without  a  shadow  of  power — 
she  who  had  determined,  immediately  on  her  arrival, 
to  play  the  leading  part.  This  horrifying  sentence 
came  from  her  lips,  in  the  language  of  Dante: 

"  No  hope  so  long  as  that  boy  lives! — his  little 
wife  bewitches  him,"  she  added,  after  a  pause. 

Catherine's  exclamation  was  inspired  by  the 
strange  prediction  which  had  been  made  to  her  a 
few  days  before  at  the  chateau  of  Chaumont,  on  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  147 

opposite  bank  of  the  Loire,  whither  she  had  gone 
with  her  astrologer  Ruggieri  to  consult,  as  to  the 
lives  of  her  four  sons,  a  celebrated  soothsayer  se- 
cretly brought  thither  by  Nostradamus,  the  most 
prominent  of  the  physicians  who,  in  the  great  six- 
teenth century,  clung  to  the  occult  sciences,  like  Rug- 
gieri, Cardan,  Paracelsus,  and  so  many  others.  This 
woman,  whose  life  has  escaped  the  notice  of  histo- 
rians, fixed  the  reign  of  Frangois  II.  at  one  year. 

"What  is  your  advice  touching  this  matter.?'* 
Catherine  asked  Chiverni. 

"  We  shall  have  a  battle,"  said  the  prudent  gen- 
tleman.    "  The  King  of  Navarre — " 

"  Oh!  say  the  queen!"  interposed  Catherine. 

"Of  course,  the  queen,"  said  Chiverni,  with  a 
smile,  "  has  given  the  reformers  for  a  leader  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  who,  being  a  young  son,  can  risk 
anything;  and  Monsieur  le  Cardinal  talks  of  writing 
him  to  come  here." 

"Let  him  come,"  cried  the  queen,  "and  I  am 
saved  !" 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  leaders  of  the  great  move- 
ment of  the  Reformation  in  France  had  rightly 
divined  an  ally  in  Catherine. 

"  It's  an  amusing  thing,"  observed  the  queen, 
"  that  the  Bourbons  are  playing  with  the  Huguenots, 
and  that  Messieurs  Calvin,  de  B^ze,  and  others  are 
playing  with  the  Bourbons;  but  shall  we  be  cunning 
enough  to  play  with  Huguenots,  Bourbons,  and 
Guises?  In  face  of  three  such  enemies,  we  may 
be  excused  for  weighing  our  powers!"  she  said. 


148  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

**  They  have  not  the  king,"  rejoined  Albert,  "  and 
you  will  always  triumph  while  you  have  the  king  on 
your  side." 

" Maladetta  Maria!" said  Catherine,  between  her 
teeth. 

*'  The  Lorraines  are  already  thinking  of  robbing 
you  of  the  affections  of  the  bourgeoisie,"  said 
Birague. 

The  hope  of  obtaining  the  crown  was  not  the 
result  of  any  premeditated  plan  formed  by  the  two 
chiefs  of  the  turbulent  Guise  family;  there  was 
nothing  to  justify  any  such  plan  or  any  such  hope, 
and  their  audacity  was  the  result  of  circumstances. 
The  two  cardinals  and  the  two  Balafres  were  four 
ambitious  men  superior  in  talent  to  all  the  politicians 
who  surrounded  them.  So  that  the  family  was  not 
crushed  until  it  came  in  collision  with  Henri  IV.,  a 
rebel,  who  was  reared  in  that  great  school  of  which 
Catherine  and  the  Guises  were  the  masters,  and 
who  made  the  most  of  all  their  lessons. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  these  two  men 
found  themselves  in  the  position  of  arbiters  of  the 
greatest  revolution  attempted  in  Europe  since  that 
of  Henry  VIII.  in  England, — a  revolution  which 
resulted  from  the  invention  of  the  printing-press. 
Enemies  of  the  Reformation,  they  held  supreme 
power  in  their  hands  and  determined  to  stifle  the 
heresy;  but  Calvin,  their  adversary,  although  less 
famous  than  Luther,  was  a  stronger  man  than 
Luther.  Calvin  saw  government  where  Luther  had 
seen  only  dogma.   Where  the  corpulent  beer-drinker, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  I49 

the  famous  German,  fought  with  the  devil  and  threw 
his  inkstand  in  his  face,  the  Picard,  a  sickly  celibate, 
formed  plans  of  campaign,  managed  battles,  fur- 
nished princes  with  weapons,  and  aroused  whole 
nations  to  action  by  sowing  republican  doctrines  in 
the  hearts  of  the  bourgeoisie,  in  order  to  make  up 
for  his  constant  reverses  on  the  battle-field  by  fresh 
progress  in  the  minds  of  his  fellow-men. 

The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  and  the  Due  de  Guise 
knew  as  well  as  Philip  II.  and  the  Duke  of  Alva 
where  the  monarchy  was  aimed  at,  and  how  closely 
Catholicism  and  royalty  were  bound  together. 
Charles  V.,  drunk  from  having  quaffed  too  freely 
from  Charlemagne's  cup,  and  relying  too  much  on 
the  strength  of  his  monarchy  in  fancying  that  he 
could  share  the  whole  world  with  Suleiman,  did  not 
realize  at  first  that  his  head  was  attacked  ;  and  when 
Cardinal  Granvelle  pointed  out  to  him  the  extent  of 
the  wound,  he  abdicated.  The  Guises  had  but  one 
thought,  to  stamp  out  the  heresy  with  a  single  blow. 
That  blow  they  attempted  first,  at  this  time,  at  Am- 
boise,  and  they  caused  it  to  be  attempted  a  second 
time  on  Saint-Bartholomew's  day,  acting  then  in 
accord  with  Catherine  de'  Medici,  whose  eyes  had 
been  opened  by  the  flames  of  twelve  years  of  war, 
and  above  all  by  the  significant  word  republic,  subse- 
quently uttered  and  printed  by  the  writers  of  the 
Reformed  sect,  whom  Lecamus,  that  typical  speci- 
men of  the  Parisian  bourgeoisie,  had  already  fath- 
omed in  that  respect. 

The  two  princes,  on  the  point  of  dealing  a  deadly 


I50  CATHERINfE  DE'  MEDICI 

blow  at  the  heart  of  the  nobility,  in  order  to  sever 
it  at  one  stroke  from  a  religious  faction  in  whose 
triumph  it  would  lose  everything,  were  finishing 
their  consultation  as  to  the  method  they  should 
adopt  of  disclosing  their  projected  coup  d'Etat  to  the 
king,  while  Catherine  was  talking  with  her  four 
advisers. 

"  Jeanne  d'Albret  knew  very  well  what  she  was 
doing  when  she  declared  herself  the  patroness  of  the 
Huguenots!  She  has  in  the  Reformation  a  battering- 
ram  which  she  handles  extremely  well!"  said  the 
grand  master,  who  realized  the  far-reaching  char- 
acter of  the  Queen  of  Navarre's  plans. 

Jeanne  d'Albret  was,  in  very  truth,  one  of  the 
shrewdest  minds  of  that  age. 

**  Theodore  de  B^ze  is  at  Nerac,  after  visiting 
Calvin  to  receive  his  orders." 

"  What  men  these  bourgeois  do  succeed  in  find- 
ing!" cried  the  grand  master. 

"Ah!  we  have  not  a  man  on  our  side  like  that  La 
Renaudie,"  exclaimed  the  cardinal;  "  he  is  a  genuine 
Catiline." 

"  Such  men  always  act  for  their  own  interest," 
the  duke  replied.  "  Did  I  not  appreciate  La  Renau- 
die? I  overwhelmed  him  with  favors,  I  helped  him 
to  escape  at  the  time  of  his  condemnation  by  the 
Parliament  of  Bourgogne,  I  enabled  him  to  return  to 
France  by  obtaining  a  revision  of  his  prosecution, 
and  I  intended  to  do  everything  in  my  power  for 
him,  while  he  was  concocting  a  devilish  conspiracy 
against  us.    The  knave  has  rallied  the  Protestants 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  151 

of  Germany  to  the  support  of  the  heretics  of  France 
by  smoothing  away  the  difficulties  in  the  matter  of 
dogma  that  had  arisen  between  Luther  and  Calvin. 
He  has  rallied  the  discontented  great  noblemen  to 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation  without  requiring  them 
to  abjure  Catholicism  openly.  Last  year  he  had 
thirty  captains  under  his  orders!  He  was  every- 
where at  once,  at  Lyon,  in  Languedoc,  at  Nantes! 
And  he  has  had  reduced  to  writing  and  distributed 
throughout  Germany  the  report  of  a  consultation  in 
which  the  theologians  declare  that  it  is  justifiable  to 
resort  to  force  to  rescue  the  king  from  our  domina- 
tion; and  it  is  now  circulating  from  town  to  town. 
We  look  for  him  everywhere,  but  we  can  never  find 
him!  And  yet  I  have  never  shown  him  anything 
but  kindness!  We  must  either  kill  him  like  a  dog, 
or  try  to  build  him  a  bridge  of  gold  by  which  he  can 
be  induced  to  enter  our  family." 

"  Bretagne,  Languedoc,  the  whole  kingdom  is 
being  worked  upon  to  make  a  deadly  assault  upon 
us,"  said  the  cardinal.  "After  yesterday's  fete,  I 
passed  the  rest  of  the  night  reading  all  the  informa- 
tion which  my  monks  have  sent  me;  but  nobody  is 
compromised  except  impoverished  noblemen,  me- 
chanics, people  as  to  whom  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  we  hang  them  or  let  them  live.  The 
Colignys  and  Condes  do  not  appear  as  yet,  although 
they  hold  the  threads  of  this  conspiracy." 

"For  that  reason,"  said  the  duke,  "as  soon  as 
that  lawyer,  that  Avenelles,  sold  us  the  secret,  I 
bade  Braguelonne  let  the  conspirators  go  on  to  the 


1 52  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

end;  they  are  unsuspicious,  they  expect  to  surprise 
us,  and  perhaps  the  leaders  will  show  themselves 
then.  My  advice  would  be  to  allow  ourselves  to  be 
beaten  for  about  forty-eight  hours — " 

"  That  would  be  half  an  hour  too  long!"  exclaimed 
the  cardinal,  in  alarm. 

"What  a  brave  fellow  you  are!"  retorted  Le 
Balafre. 

The  cardinal  rejoined,  unmoved: 

"  Whether  the  Prince  de  Conde  is  compromised 
or  not,  if  we  are  sure  that  he  is  their  leader,  let  us 
strike  him  down,  and  then  we  shall  be  secure.  We 
do  not  need  soldiers  so  much  as  judges  for  this  task, 
and  we  shall  never  lack  judges.  Victory  is  always 
more  certain  in  parliament  than  on  the  battle-field 
and  costs  less." 

"  I  am  perfectly  willing,"  replied  the  duke;  "  but 
do  you  think  that  the  Prince  de  Conde  is  powerful 
enough  to  inspire  so  much  audacity  in  these  people 
who  are  coming  to  strike  this  first  blow  at  us?  is  it 
not—" 

**  The  King  of  Navarre,"  said  the  cardinal. 

"A  simpleton  who  takes  off  his  hat  when  he 
speaks  to  me!"  replied  the  duke.  "Can  it  be  that 
the  Florentine's  coquetries  have  obscured  your 
sight?" 

"  Oh!  I  know  what  I  am  about,"  said  the  priest. 
"  My  only  purpose  in  seeking  an  intrigue  with  her 
is  to  be  able  to  read  in  the  depths  of  her  heart." 

"She  has  no  heart,"  said  the  duke,  quickly, 
"she  is  even  more  ambitious  than  we  are." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 53 

"You  are  a  gallant  captain,**  said  the  cardinal  to 
his  brother,  "  but,  believe  me,  I  am  not  very  far 
behind  you,  and  I  set  Mary  to  watch  her  before  you 
ever  dreamed  of  suspecting  her.  Catherine  is  no 
more  religious  than  my  shoe.  If  she  is  not  the  soul 
of  the  conspiracy,  it  is  not  for  lack  of  inclination; 
but  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  judge  her  when 
the  test  comes,  and  to  see  how  well  she  supports  us. 
Thus  far  I  am  perfectly  certain  that  she  has  had  ab- 
solutely no  communication  with  the  heretics." 

"It  is  time  to  disclose  the  whole  plot  to  the  king, 
and  to  the  queen-mother  who  is  supposed  to  know 
nothing  about  it,"  said  the  duke;  "and  that  is  the 
only  proof  of  her  innocence;  perhaps  they  are  wait- 
ing until  the  last  moment,  to  dazzle  her  by  the  proba- 
bilities of  success.  La  Renaudie  will  soon  know  by 
my  arrangements  that  we  are  warned.  Last  night, 
Nemours  was  to  follow  the  detachments  of  conspira- 
tors who  are  on  their  way  hither  by  the  by-roads,  and 
they  will  be  compelled  to  attack  us  at  Amboise,  where 
I  shall  let  them  all  in.  Here,"  he  said,  pointing  to 
three  sides  of  the  cliff  on  which  the  chateau  of  Blois 
is  built,  as  Chiverni  had  just  done,  "  we  should  have 
an  assault  with  no  result,  the  Huguenots  could  come 
and  go  at  will.  Blois  is  a  hall  with  four  entrances, 
whereas  Amboise  is  a  bag." 

"  I  will  not  leave  the  Florentine,"  said  the  car- 
dinal. 

"  We  have  made  a  mistake,"  rejoined  the  duke, 
amusing  himself  by  tossing  his  dagger  in  the  air  and 
catching  it  by  the  hilt;  "we  must  adopt  the  same 


154  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

plan  with  her  as  with  the  reformers,  give  her  full 
liberty  of  movement  in  order  to  catch  her  in  the 
act." 

The  cardinal  looked  at  his  brother  a  moment,  and 
shook  his  head. 

"  What  does  Pardaillan  want?"  said  the  grand 
master,  as  he  saw  coming  toward  them  on  the  ter- 
race the  young  nobleman  who  became  celebrated  by 
reason  of  his  meeting  with  La  Renaudie,  in  which 
they  both  lost  their  lives. 

"  Monseigneur,  a  man  sent  hither  by  the  queen's 
furrier  is  at  the  gate,  and  says  that  he  has  an  ermine 
garment  to  deliver  to  her;  shall  he  be  admitted?" 

"  Oh!  yes,  a  surcot  that  she  mentioned  yester- 
day," replied  the  cardinal;  "admit  the  shopkeep- 
ing  churl;  she  will  need  the  surcot  for  the  journey 
down  the  Loire." 

"  By  what  road  did  he  come,  that  he  was  not 
challenged  until  he  reached  the  gate  of  the  cha- 
teau?" demanded  the  grand  master. 

**  I  do  not  know,"  Pardaillan  replied. 

"  I  will  ask  him  the  question  in  the  queen's  pres- 
ence," said  Le  Balafre  to  himself. — "  Let  him  await 
the  morning  reception  in  the  salle  des  gardes,"  he 
added,  aloud.  **  By  the  way,  Pardaillan,  is  he 
young?" 

"  Yes,  monseigneur;  he  claims  to  be  Lecamus's 
son." 

"Lecamus  is  a  good  Catholic,"  said  the  car- 
dinal, who,  like  the  grand  master,  was  blessed  with 
Caesar's  memory.     "  The  cure  of  Saint-Pierre  aux 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 55 

Boeufs  relies  upon  him,  for  he  is  quartenier  at  the 
palace." 

"Nevertheless,  allow  the  son  to  talk  with  the 
captain  of  the  Scottish  Guard,"  said  the  grand 
master,  emphasizing  the  verb  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  it  a  meaning  easy  to  understand.  "  But  Am- 
broise  is  in  the  chateau;  we  can  learn  from  him  if 
the  knave  is  really  the  son  of  Lecamus,  who  assisted 
him  very  materially  long  ago.    Ask  Ambroise  Pare." 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  Queen  Catherine  came 
forward  alone  toward  the  two  brothers,  who  made 
haste  to  go  to  meet  her,  with  manifestations  of  re- 
spect in  which  the  Italian  constantly  detected  an 
ironical  meaning. 

"  Messieurs,"  said  she,  "  will  you  deign  to  inform 
me  as  to  what  is  going  forward.?  Does  your  former 
master's  widow  hold  a  lower  place  in  your  es- 
teem than  Messieurs  de  Vieilleville,  Birague,  and 
Chiverni?" 

"  Madame,"  replied  the  cardinal,  in  a  gallant  tone, 
"  our  duty  as  men,  taking  precedence  of  our  duty  as 
politicians,  is  to  avoid  alarming  the  ladies  by  false 
rumors.  But  this  morning  there  is  occasion  to  con- 
fer upon  affairs  of  State.  You  will  excuse  my  brother 
for  having  begun  by  issuing  certain  purely  military 
orders,  with  which  it  was  unnecessary  to  trouble 
you:  the  important  questions  remain  to  be  decided. 
If  you  please,  we  will  attend  the  morning  reception 
of  the  king  and  queen,  as  the  hour  draws  near." 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Monsieur  le  Grand  Maitre.?" 
said  Catherine,  affecting  alarm. 


156  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

**The  Reformation,  madame,  is  no  longer  a  her- 
esy simply,  it  is  a  party  which  is  coming  in  arms  to 
tear  the  king  from  you." 

Thereupon  Catherine,  the  cardinal,  the  duke,  and 
the  noblemen  walked  toward  the  staircase  through  the 
gallery,  where  the  courtiers  who  had  not  the  right  of 
entry  to  the  apartments  hastily  assembled  and  drew 
up  in  two  lines. 

Gondi,  who  had  been  watching  the  two  Lorraine 
princes  closely  while  Catherine  was  talking  with 
them,  whispered  in  good  Tuscan  in  the  queen- 
mother's  ear  these  two  words,  which  passed  into 
a  proverb,  and  which  explain  one  aspect  of  that 
great  royal  character: 

"Odiate  e  aspettate!" — Hate  and  wait. 


Pardaillan,  who  had  just  given  the  order  to  the 
officer  of  the  guard  at  the  gate  of  the  chateau  to 
admit  the  clerk  of  the  queen's  furrier,  found  Chris- 
tophe  standing  open-mouthed  in  front  of  the  porch, 
gazing  intently  at  the  facade  built  by  good  King 
Louis  XII,,  where,  if  we  may  judge  by  what  still 
remains  of  it,  the  fantastic  carvings  were  much 
more  numerous  than  they  are  to-day.  For  instance, 
the  curious  observer  will  notice  a  woman's  figure, 
carved  in  the  capital  of  one  of  the  columns  of  the 
doorway,  with  her  dress  pulled  up,  and  laughingly 
showing 

What  Brunnel  showed  Marphise 

to  a  stout  monk  crouching  on  the  capital  of  the  cor- 
responding column  on  the  other  side  of  the  frame- 
work of  that  door,  above  which  at  that  time  stood 
the  statue  of  Louis  XII.  Several  of  the  windows  in 
that  fagade,  carved  in  the  same  style, — which  unfor- 
tunately have  been  destroyed, — amused,  or  seemed 
to  amuse,  Christophe,  upon  whom  the  arquebusiers 
of  the  guard  were  already  showering  jocose  remarks. 
"This  fellow  would  find  very  comfortable  quar- 
ters there,"  said  the  subaltern  on  duty,  patting  the 
charges  for  his  arquebus  which  were  all  prepared  in 
the  shape  of  sugar-loaves  and  slung  from  his  baldrick. 
(157) 


158  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

'*  I  say,  Parisian,"  said  a  soldier,  "you  never  saw 
so  many  of  'em,  did  you?" 

**  He  recognizes  good  King  Louis  XII.,"  said 
another. 

Christophe  pretended  not  to  hear,  and  did  his 
utmost  to  exaggerate  his  feigned  amazement,  and 
his  foolish  attitude  in  front  of  the  guard-house  was 
an  excellent  passport  in  Pardaillan's  eyes. 

"The  queen  has  not  risen,"  said  the  young 
captain;  "come  and  wait  for  her  in  the  salle  des 
gardes/' 

Christophe  slowly  followed  Pardaillan.  He  lin- 
gered to  admire  the  graceful  arched  gallery  where, 
in  the  reign  of  Louis  XII.,  the  courtiers  awaited  the 
reception-hour  under  cover  when  the  weather  was 
bad,  and  where  there  were,  at  that  moment,  several 
noblemen  of  the  party  of  the  Guises;  for  the  stair- 
case which  led  to  their  apartments,  extremely  well 
preserved  to  this  day,  is  at  the  end  of  that  gallery 
in  a  tower  of  a  style  of  architecture  well  adapted  to 
arouse  the  admiration  of  beholders. 

"Well,  did  you  come  here  to  study  image-carv- 
ing.?" cried  Pardaillan,  as  he  saw  Lecamus  standing 
in  front  of  the  dainty  carvings  of  the  outer  bal- 
conies which  connect,  or,  if  you  prefer,  separate,  the 
columns  of  each  arch. 

Christophe  followed  the  young  captain  toward  the 
staircase  of  honor,  not  without  casting  an  enraptured 
glance  at  that  quasi-Moorish  tower.  On  that  lovely 
morning  the  courtyard  was  full  of  orderlies,  and 
noblemen  talking  in  groups,  their  gorgeous  costumes 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  1 59 

giving  animation  to  the  spot,  wliich  the  architec- 
tural marvels  carved  on  the  still-new  facade  made  so 
brilliant  in  itself. 

"Come  in  here,"  said  Pardaillan  to  Lecamus, 
motioning  to  him  to  follow  through  a  carved  wooden 
door  on  the  second  floor,  which  was  thrown  open 
by  the  soldier  on  guard  when  he  recognized  Par- 
daillan. 

Christophe's  amazement  can  be  imagined  when 
he  entered  that  salle  des  gardes,  which  was  of  such 
immense  size  that  the  military  authorities  of  the 
present  day  have  cut  it  in  two  by  a  partition  through 
the  centre;  it  actually  occupied  a  third  of  the  whole 
courtyard  facade  in  the  king's  suite  on  the  second 
floor,  as  well  as  on  the  first  floor  in  the  queen- 
mother's;  it  was  lighted  by  two  windows  at  the  right 
and  two  at  the  left  of  the  tower  containing  the  fa- 
mous spiral  stairway.  The  young  captain  walked 
toward  the  door  of  the  bedroom  occupied  by  the 
king  and  queen,  which  opened  into  that  vast  hall, 
and  bade  one  of  the  two  pages  on  duty  inform 
Madame  Dayelle,  one  of  the  queen's  women,  that 
the  furrier  was  in  the  hall  with  her  surcots. 

At  a  gesture  from  Pardaillan,  Christophe  took  his 
place  beside  an  officer  seated  on  a  stool  at  the  corner 
of  a  fireplace  as  large  as  his  father's  shop,  which 
was  at  one  end  of  that  vast  hall,  facing  one  precisely 
like  it  at  the  other  end.  He  fell  into  conversation 
with  this  officer,  and  eventually  aroused  his  interest 
by  telling  him  of  the  wretched  condition  of  trade. 
Christophe  made   himself  appear   such  a  genuine 


l6o  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

tradesman  that  the  ofificer  was  convinced,  and  im- 
parted his  conviction  to  the  captain  of  the  Scottish 
Guard,  who  came  up  from  the  courtyard  to  question 
Christophe,  and  who  scrutinized  him  stealthily  and 
with  care. 

Although  fully  warned  of  his  perilous  position, 
Christophe  Lecamus  could  not  comprehend  the  cold- 
blooded ferocity  of  the  selfish  interests  among  which 
Chaudieu  had  thrust  him.  To  an  observer  who 
knew  the  secret  of  that  scene,  as  the  historian 
knows  it  to-day,  there  would  have  been  abundant 
cause  for  trembling  at  the  spectacle  of  that  young 
man,  the  hope  of  two  families,  risking  his  life  be- 
tween those  two  powerful  and  pitiless  machines, 
Catherine  and  the  Guises.  Are  there  many  men  of 
true  courage  who  measure  the  extent  of  the  risks 
they  run.?  From  the  way  in  which  the  port  of 
Blois,  the  town  and  the  chateau  were  guarded, 
Christophe  expected  to  find  snares  and  spies  every- 
where, so  he  had  resolved  to  conceal  the  momentous 
nature  of  his  mission  and  the  tension  of  his  faculties 
behind  the  foolish  and  commercial  exterior  which  he 
had  just  exhibited  to  young  Pardaillan,  to  the  officer 
of  the  guard,  and  to  the  captain. 

The  commotion  which  accompanies  the  hour  of 
the  morning  reception  in  a  royal  chateau  was  begin- 
ning to  be  apparent.  The  noblemen,  whose  horses 
and  pages,  or  squires,  remained  in  the  outer  court- 
yard of  the  chateau, — for  no  one,  save  the  king  and 
queen,  was  entitled  to  enter  the  inner  courtyard 
mounted, — ascended  the  superb  staircase  in  groups 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  l6l 

and  invaded  the  vast  salle  des  gardes  with  its  two 
fireplaces,  where  the  great  timbers  are  to-day  de- 
spoiled of  their  decorations,  where  beggarly  little 
red  tiles  replace  the  ingenious  mosaics  of  the  floor, 
but  where  the  crown  tapestries  then  concealed  the 
massive  walls,  to-day  whitewashed,  and  where  the 
arts  of  that  epoch,  unique  in  the  annals  of  mankind, 
shone  resplendent. 

Reformers  and  Catholics  flocked  thither  to  learn 
the  news  and  to  scrutinize  faces,  as  much  as  to  pay 
their  court  to  the  king.  Francois  II. 's  excessive 
affection  for  Mary  Stuart,  which  neither  the  Guises 
nor  the  queen-mother  attempted  to  thwart,  and  the 
politic  complaisance  with  which  Mary  Stuart  wel- 
comed it,  deprived  the  king  of  all  power;  and  so, 
although  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  knew 
naught  of  royalty  save  its  diversions,  and  naught 
of  marriage  save  the  delights  of  a  first  passion.  In 
reality  they  all  paid  court  to  Queen  Mary,  to  her 
uncle,  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  and  to  the  grand 
master. 

This  general  movement  took  place  before  Chris- 
tophe,  who  watched  the  arrival  of  each  personage 
with  a  naturally  eager  curiosity.  A  magnificent 
portiere,  on  each  side  of  which  stood  two  pages 
and  two  guards  of  the  Scottish  company,  then  on 
duty,  marked  the  entrance  to  that  royal  bedroom,  so 
fatal  to  the  then  grand  master's  son,  the  second 
Balafre,  who  breathed  his  last  at  the  foot  of  the  bed 
at  this  time  occupied  by  Mary  Stuart  and  Francois  II. 
The  queen's  maids  of  honor  were  grouped  near  the 
II 


l62  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

fireplace  opposite  to  that  by  which  Christophe  was 
still  talking  with  the  captain  of  the  guards.  By  its 
situation,  that  second  fireplace  was  the  fireplace  of 
honor,  for  it  was  cut  in  the  thick  wall  of  the  salle  du 
conseil,  between  the  door  thereof  and  the  door  of  the 
royal  chamber,  so  that  the  maids  of  honor  and  those 
noblemen  who  were  entitled  to  stand  there  were 
directly  in  the  path  of  the  king  and  queens.  The 
courtiers  were  certain  of  seeing  Catherine,  for  her 
maids  of  honor,  in  mourning  like  the  whole  court, 
came  up  from  her  apartments  headed  by  the  Com- 
tesse  de  Fiesco,  and  took  their  places  on  the  side 
of  the  salle  du  conseil,  facing  the  young  queen's 
ladies,  led  by  the  Duchesse  de  Guise,  who  occupied 
the  opposite  corner,  toward  the  royal  chamber.  The 
courtiers  left  between  the  two  groups  of  ladies,  who 
belonged  to  the  first  families  of  the  kingdom,  a  space 
of  several  yards,  upon  which  the  greatest  noblemen 
alone  had  the  right  to  encroach.  The  Comtesse  de 
Fiesco  and  the  Duchesse  de  Guise  were,  by  virtue 
of  the  privilege  pertaining  to  their  ofifices,  seated  in 
the  midst  of  these  noble  maidens,  all  of  whom  were 
standing. 

One  of  the  first  men  who  ventured  to  approach 
these  two  formidable  battalions  was  the  Due  d'Or- 
leans,  the  king's  brother,  who  came  down  from  his 
apartments  on  the  floor  above,  accompanied  by  Mon- 
sieur de  Cypierre,  his  governor.  The  young  prince, 
who  was  destined  to  reign  before  the  close  of  the 
year,  under  the  name  of  Charles  IX.,  was  at  this  time 
ten  years  old  and  excessively  bashful.     The  Due 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  163 

d'Anjou  and  the  Due  d'Alencon,  his  two  brothers,  as 
well  as  the  Princesse  Marguerite,  afterward  the  wife 
of  Henri  IV.,  were  still  too  young  to  come  to  the 
court,  and  remained  under  their  mother's  charge  in 
her  apartments.  The  Due  d'Orleans,  richly  dressed, 
according  to  the  prevailing  fashion,  in  silk  breeches, 
a  cloth-of-gold  doublet  with  black  flowers,  and  a 
small  embroidered  velvet  cloak, — all  in  black,  for 
he  was  still  in  mourning  for  the  king,  his  father, — 
saluted  the  two  ladies  of  honor,  and  took  his  place 
near  his  mother's  attendants.  Already  overflow- 
ing with  antipathy  for  the  House  of  Guise,  he 
replied  coldly  to  the  duchess's  words,  and  leaned 
on  the  back  of  the  Comtesse  de  Fiesco's  high 
chair.  His  governor,  one  of  the  noblest  characters 
of  that  age.  Monsieur  de  Cypierre,  stood  behind 
him  like  a  shield.  Amyot,  in  a  simple  abbe's  cas- 
sock, also  accompanied  him;  he  was  already  his 
tutor,  as  well  as  the  tutor  of  the  other  three  princes, 
whose  affection  afterward  proved  to  be  so  profitable 
to  him. 

Between  the  fireplace  of  honor  and  the  one  at  the 
other  end  of  the  hall,  where  the  guards  and  their  cap- 
tain were  standing,  with  several  courtiers,  and  Chris- 
tophe  with  his  box.  Chancellor  Olivier,  L'Hopital's 
patron  and  predecessor,  dressed  as  chancellors  of 
France  have  always  dressed  from  that  day  to  this, 
was  walking  to  and  fro  with  the  Cardinal  de  Tour- 
non,  recently  arrived  from  Rome,  exchanging  a  few 
whispered  sentences  amid  the  general  attention  of 
the  noblemen  massed  along  the  wall  separating  the 


l64  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

hall  from  the  king's  chamber,  like  living  tapestry, 
in  front  of  the  superb  tapestry  with  its  thousands  of 
figures.  Notwithstanding  the  gravity  of  the  occa- 
sion, the  court  presented  the  appearance  which  all 
courts  present  in  all  countries,  at  all  times,  amid  the 
most  imminent  dangers:  courtiers  talking  upon  indif- 
ferent subjects  and  thinking  of  grave  subjects,  jest- 
ing as  they  scrutinize  faces,  and  chattering  about 
love  and  marriages  with  heiresses,  amid  the  most 
appalling  catastrophes. 

"  What  did  you  think  of  yesterday's  fgte?"  asked 
Bourdeilles,  Seigneur  de  Brantome,  as  he  approached 
Mademoiselle  de  Piennes,  one  of  the  queen-mother's 
maids  of  honor. 

"  Messieurs  du  BaYf  and  du  Bellay  never  have  any 
but  good  ideas,"  she  replied,  pointing  to  the  two 
organizers  of  the  f^te,  who  stood  within  a  few 
steps. — "  I  thought  it  was  in  most  execrable  taste," 
she  added  in  an  undertone. 

"Because  you  had  no  part  in  it?"  queried  Ma- 
demoiselle de  Lewiston  from  the  other  side  of  the 
fireplace. 

"What  are  you  reading,  madame.?"  Amyot  asked 
Madame  de  Fiesco. 

"Amadis  de  Gaule,  by  Seigneur  des  Essarts,  com- 
missary-in-ordinary  of  the  king's  artillery.'' 

"  A  charming  book,"  said  the  lovely  girl,  who  was 
afterward  so  famous  under  the  name  of  La  Fosseuse, 
when  she  became  maid  of  honor  to  Queen  Mar- 
guerite of  Navarre. 

"The  style  is  quite  new,"  said  Amyot.     "Do 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  165 

you  take  up  with  these  barbarisms?"  he  asked, 
addressing  Brant6me. 

"  The  ladies  like  them,  what  can  we  do?"  replied 
Brantome,  as  he  went  to  pay  his  respects  to  Madame 
de  Guise,  who  held  in  her  hand  Boccaccio's  Celebres 
Dames. — "  There  must  be  some  ladies  of  your  family 
in  that  book,  madame,"  he  said;  "  but  Sieur  Boccaccio 
made  a  mistake  in  not  living  in  our  day;  he  would 
have  found  material  for  expanding  his  volumes." 

**  How  clever  that  Monsieur  de  Brantome  is!"  said 
the  fair  Mademoiselle  de  Limeuil  to  the  Comtesse  de 
Fiesco;  "  he  came  to  us  first,  but  he  will  stay  in  the 
Guise  quarter." 

"Hush!"  said  Madame  de  Fiesco,  looking  sharply 
at  the  fair  Limeuil.    "Attend  to  your  own  affairs — " 

The  girl  turned  her  eyes  toward  the  door.  She 
was  awaiting  Sardini,  an  Italian  noble,  to  whom  the 
queen-mother,  her  kinswoman,  married  her  after  the 
accident  which  happened  to  her  in  Catherine's  own 
dressing-room,  and  to  which  she  was  indebted  for 
the  honor  of  having  a  queen  for  midwife. 

"  By  Saint  Alipantin,  Mademoiselle  Davila  seems 
to  me  to  grow  lovelier  every  morning,"  said  Monsieur 
de  Robertet,  secretary  of  State,  saluting  the  queen- 
mother's  group. 

The  arrival  of  the  secretary  of  State,  who  looked 
precisely  as  a  cabinet  minister  looks  in  our  days, 
caused  no  sensation. 

"  If  that  is  so,  monsieur,  pray  lend  me  the  libel 
against  Messieurs  de  Guise,"  said  Mademoiselle  Da- 
vila to  Robertet;  **I  know  it  has  been  lent  to  you." 


l66  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  I  no  longer  have  it,"  replied  the  secretary,  going 
to  salute  Madame  de  Guise. 

'*I  have  it,"  said  the  Comte  de  Grammont  to 
Mademoiselle  Davila,  "  but  I  will  only  give  it  to  you 
on  one  condition." 

"  Conditions.? — fie!"  said  Madame  de  Fiesco. 

"You  do  not  know  what  I  mean,"  rejoined 
Grammont. 

"  Oh!  we  can  guess  that,"  said  La  Limeuil. 

The  Italian  custom  of  calling  ladies,  as  peasants 
call  their  wives.  La  So-and-So,  was  then  in  vogue  at 
the  French  court. 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  replied  the  count,  hastily, 
*'  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  returning  to  Mademoiselle 
de  Matha,  one  of  the  ladies  on  the  other  bank,  a 
letter  from  my  cousin  Jarnac." 

"Do  not  compromise  my  girls,"  said  the  Com- 
tesse  de  Fiesco,  "  I  will  deliver  it  myself. — Have 
you  any  news  of  what  is  happening  in  Flanders.?" 
she  asked  Cardinal  de  Tournon.  "It  seems  that 
Monsieur  d'Egmont  is  yielding  to  the  new  ideas." 

"  He  and  the  Prince  of  Orange,"  said  Cypierre, 
with  a  most  significant  shrug. 

"  The  Duke  of  Alva  and  Cardinal  Granvelle  are 
there,  are  they  not,  monsieur?"  Amyot  asked  Car- 
dinal de  Tournon,  who  stood  between  the  two  groups, 
taciturn  and  anxious,  after  his  conversation  with  the 
chancellor. 

"  Fortunately  we  are  at  peace,  and  have  only  to 
put  down  the  heresy  on  the  stage,"  said  the  young 
Due  d'Orleans,  alluding  to  the  part  he  had  played  in 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  167 

the  fdte  of  the  preceding  day,  that  of  a  knight  over- 
coming a  hydra  with  the  word  Reformation  on  its 
forehead. 

Catherine  de*  Medici,  concurring  therein  with  her 
daughter-in  law,  had  allowed  a  theatre  to  be  made 
of  the  vast  hall  which  was  subsequently  arranged 
for  the  meetings  of  the  estates  of  Blois,  and  which, 
as  we  have  said  before,  lay  between  the  chateau  of 
Francois  I.  and  that  of  Louis  XII. 

The  cardinal  made  no  reply,  but  resumed  his  prom- 
epade  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  talking  in  undertones 
with  Monsieur  de  Robertet  and  the  chancellor.  Few 
persons  realize  the  obstacles  which  the  secretary- 
ships of  State,  since  transformed  into  departments, 
encountered  when  they  were  first  created,  and  how 
much  difficulty  the  kings  of  France  had  in  creating 
them.  At  that  period,  a  secretary  of  State  like 
Robertet  was  a  scrivener  pure  and  simple,  and  was 
of  almost  no  consequence  among  the  princes  and 
great  nobles  who  decided  all  affairs  of  State.  There 
were  no  ministerial  functions  save  those  of  the  su- 
perintendent of  the  finances,  chancellor,  and  keeper 
of  the  seals.  The  kings  awarded  places  in  their 
council  by  letters  patent  to  those  of  their  subjects 
whose  opinions  seemed  likely  to  be  of  use  to  them 
in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  They  admitted  to 
the  council  the  president  of  a  chamber  in  the  Parlia- 
ment, a  bishop,  an  untitled  favorite.  Once  admitted 
to  the  council,  the  subject  strengthened  his  position 
by  obtaining  offices  under  the  crown  which  carried 
handsome  perquisites  with  them, — such  offices  as 


l68  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

provincial  governments,  the  sword  of  constable,  the 
grand-mastership  of  artillery,  the  baton  of  a  marshal, 
the  colonel-generalship  of  some  military  organization, 
the  post  of  admiral,  the  captaincy  of  the  galleys,  and 
frequently  some  office  at  court,  like  the  grand-mas- 
tership of  the  household,  then  filled  by  the  Due  de 
Guise. 

"Do  you  think  that  the  Due  de  Nemours  will 
marry  Franfoise?"  Madame  de  Guise  asked  the  Due 
d'Orleans's  tutor. 

"Ah!  madame,"  he  replied,  "  I  know  nothing  but 
Latin." 

This  answer  brought  a  smile  to  the  lips  of  those 
who  were  within  hearing.  Just  at  that  time  the 
seduction  of  Francoise  de  Rohan  by  the  Due  de 
Nemours  was  the  all-engrossing  subject  of  conver- 
sation; but  as  the  Due  de  Nemours  was  a  cousin  of 
Francois  II.,  and  doubly  connected  with  the  House 
of  Valois  through  his  mother,  the  Guises  looked 
upon  him  as  seduced  rather  than  seducer.  Never- 
theless, the  influence  of  the  Rohan  family  was  so 
great  that,  after  the  reign  of  Francois  II.,  the  Due 
de  Nemours  was  obliged  to  leave  France,  because 
of  the  suit  which  the  Rohans  brought  against  him 
and  which  was  adjusted  by  the  influence  of  the 
Guises.  His  marriage  with  the  Duchesse  de  Guise 
after  the  duke  was  assassinated  by  Poltrot,  may  ex- 
plain the  question  she  asked  Amyot,  revealing  as 
it  does  the  rivalry  that  probably  existed  between 
Mademoiselle  de  Rohan  and  herself. 

"  Just  look  at  the  group  of  malcontents  yonder," 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  169 

said  the  Comte  de  Grammont,  pointing  to  Messieurs 
de  Coligny,  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon,  Danville, 
Thore,  Moret,  and  several  other  noblemen  suspected 
of  dabbling  in  the  Reformation,  who  were  standing 
together  between  two  windows  near  the  other  fire- 
place. 

"  The  Huguenots  are  astir,"  said  Cypierre.  "  We 
know  that  Theodore  de  Beze  is  at  Nerac  to  induce 
the  Queen  of  Navarre  to  declare  for  the  reformers 
by  abjuring  publicly,"  he  added,  with  a  glance  at 
the  Bailli  of  Orleans,  who  was  also  chancellor  to 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  who  was  keeping  watch 
upon  the  court. 

"She  will  do  it,"  rejoined  the  bailli,  dryly. 

This  personage,  the  Jacques  Coeur  of  Orleans, 
was  one  of  the  wealthiest  bourgeois  of  the  time;  his 
name  was  Groslot,  and  he  was  Jeanne  d'Albret's 
man  of  business  at  the  French  court. 

"Do  you  think  so?"  queried  the  chancellor  of 
France,  appreciating  the  full  import  of  Groslot's 
assertion. 

"  Do  not  you  know,"  said  the  wealthy  Orleanais, 
"that  that  queen  has  none  of  the  attributes  of 
woman  except  her  sex?  She  is  entirely  devoted  to 
virile  pursuits,  she  has  a  mind  competent  to  deal 
with  great  affairs  of  State,  and  her  heart  is  uncon- 
querable by  the  greatest  disasters." 

"  Monsieur  le  cardinal,"  said  Olivier  to  Monsieur 
de  Tournon,  who  had  been  listening  to  Groslot, 
"  what  think  you  of  such  presumption?" 

"  The  Queen  of   Navarre  was  well  advised  to 


I70  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

choose  for  her  chancellor  a  man  from  whom  the 
House  of  Lorraine  is  wont  to  borrow  money,  and 
who  offers  his  house  to  the  king  when  there  is  a 
suggestion  of  the  court  going  to  Orleans,"  replied 
the  cardinal. 

Thereupon  the  chancellor  and  the  cardinal  ex- 
changed glances,  not  venturing  to  exchange  thoughts; 
but  Robertet  expressed  their  thoughts  for  them,  for 
he  deemed  it  necessary  to  display  greater  devotion 
to  the  Guises  than  those  great  personages,  realizing 
that  he  was  of  less  consequence  than  they. 

"  It  is  a  great  misfortune  that  the  House  of  Na- 
varre, instead  of  abjuring  the  religion  of  its  fathers, 
does  not  abjure  the  revengeful  and  rebellious  spirit 
infused  into  it  by  the  Constable  de  Bourbon.  We 
are  going  to  see  a  repetition  of  the  quarrels  of 
Armagnacs  and  Bourguignons." 

"No,"  said  Groslot,  "for  there  is  something  of 
Louis  XL  in  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine." 

"  And  also  in  Queen  Catherine,"  retorted  Rob- 
ertet. 

At  that  moment,  Madame  Dayelle,  Queen  Mary 
Stuart's  favorite  lady's-maid,  crossed  the  hall  to- 
ward the  queen's  chamber.  Her  appearance  caused 
a  commotion. 

"We  shall  soon  be  admitted,"  said  Madame  de 
Fiesco. 

"  I  think  not,"  replied  Madame  de  Guise;  "their 
Majesties  will  come  out,  for  there  is  to  be  a  grand 
council." 

La  Dayelle  glided  into  the   royal  chamber  after 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  I7I 

scratching  at  the  door, — a  respectful  method  of 
knocking  invented  by  Catherine  de'  Medici  and 
adopted  by  the  court  of  France. 

"What  is  the  weather,  my  dear  Dayelle?"  said 
Queen  Mary,  putting  aside  the  bed-curtains  and 
showing  her  fresh,  fair  face. 

"Ah!  madame — " 

"  What  is  it,  my  Dayelle?  one  would  say  that  the 
archers  were  at  your  heels." 

"Oh!  madame,  is  the  king  still  asleep?" 

"Yes." 

"  We  are  going  to  leave  the  chateau,  and  monsieur 
le  cardinal  bade  me  come  and  tell  you  so  that  you 
might  prepare  the  king  for  it." 

"  Do  you  know  why,  my  dear  Dayelle?" 

"  The  reformers  intend  to  kidnap  you." 

"Ah!  this  new  religion  leaves  me  no  peace!  I 
dreamed  last  night  that  I  was  in  prison,  /,  who  am 
to  wear  the  crowns  of  the  three  greatest  kingdoms 
on  earth!" 

"  So  that  it  was  only  a  dream,  madame!" 

"  Kidnapped? — that  would  be  rather  nice;  but  to 
be  kidnapped  on  account  of  religion,  and  by  heretics, 
is  horrible  to  think  of !" 

The  queen  jumped  out  of  bed  and  seated  herself 
in  a  large  chair  covered  with  red  velvet,  in  front  of 
the  fireplace,  after  Dayelle  had  helped  her  to  don  a 
robe  de  chamhre  of  black  velvet,  which  she  secured 
closely  at  the  waist  by  a  silk  cord.  Dayelle  lighted 
the  fire,  for  May  mornings  are  decidedly  cool  on  the 
banks  of  the  Loire. 


172  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  So  my  uncles  have  had  news  during  the  night?" 
the  queen  asked  Dayelle,  whom  she  was  accustomed 
to  treat  with  familiarity, 

"All  the  morning  Messieurs  de  Guise  have  been 
walking  on  the  terrace  so  that  nobody  could  overhear 
them,  and  have  received  messengers  who  arrived 
in  great  haste  from  different  parts  of  the  kingdom 
where  the  reformers  are  moving.  Madame  the 
queen-mother  was  on  hand  with  her  Italians,  hoping 
to  be  consulted,  but  she  was  not  admitted  to  the 
private  council." 

"  She  must  be  frantic." 

"Especially  as  there  was  some  anger  left  over 
from  yesterday,"  replied  Dayelle.  "  They  say  that 
when  she  saw  Your  Majesty  in  your  cloth-of-gold 
dress  with  your  lovely  veil  of  tan-colored  cr^pe,  she 
was  not  overpleased." 

"  Leave  us,  good  Dayelle,  the  king  is  waking. 
Let  no  one,  not  even  those  who  have  the  petite 
entrie,  disturb  us;  affairs  of  State  are  involved,  and 
my  uncles  will  not  disturb  us." 

"Well,  well,  my  dear  Mary,  out  of  bed  already.? 
Is  it  daylight."*"  said  the  young  king,  opening  his 
eyes. 

"  My  dear  love,  while  we  sleep,  the  wicked  remain 
awake  and  compel  us  to  leave  this  charming  place." 

"  Why  do  you  talk  about  wicked  people,  my 
darling.?  Did  we  not  have  the  loveliest  f^te  in  the 
world  yesterday,  except  for  the  Latin  words  those 
gentry  mingled  with  our  French?" 

"Ah!"  said  Mary,  "that  language  is  considered 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  173 

in  very  good  taste,  and  Rabelais  has  already  given 
us  examples  of  it." 

"You  are  a  very  learned  person,  and  I  am  sorry 
that  I  cannot  praise  your  talents  in  verse;  if  I  were 
not  king,  I  would  take  Master  Amyot  away  from  my 
brother,  who  is  learning  so  much  from  him." 

"  Don't  envy  your  brother,  who  writes  verses  and 
shows  them  to  me,  asking  me  to  show  him  mine. 
I  say  you  are  the  best  of  the  four,  and  will  make 
as  good  a  king  as  you  are  a  charming  lover.  Per- 
haps that  is  the  reason  your  mother  cares  so  little 
for  you!  But  never  fear.  Dear  heart,  1  will  love 
you  for  all  the  world." 

**  I  deserve  no  great  credit  for  loving  such  a  per- 
fect queen,"  said  the  little  king.  "  I  do  not  know 
what  kept  me  from  kissing  you  yesterday  before  the 
whole  court  when  you  danced  the  torch  dance!  To 
my  eyes  all  other  women  seem  like  servants  beside 
you,  my  beautiful  Mary." 

"  Although  you  speak  only  in  prose,  you  speak 
charmingly,  my  darling;  but  you  see  it  is  love  that 
speaks.  And  you  know  well,  my  best-beloved,  that, 
were  you  only  a  poor  little  page,  I  would  love  you 
as  much  as  1  love  you  now,  and  yet  there  is  nothing 
sweeter  than  to  be  able  to  say:  '  My  lover  is  king!' " 

"  Oh!  what  a  pretty  arm!  Why  need  we  dress.? 
1  love  so  to  run  my  fingers  through  your  soft  hair, 
to  tangle  these  fair  locks.  Ah!  my  life,  do  not  let 
your  women  kiss  that  white  neck,  that  soft  back 
again,  do  not  allow  it!  It  is  too  much  that  the  fogs 
of  Scotland  should  ever  have  touched  them." 


174  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  Won't  you  come  and  see  my  dear  country?  The 
Scotch  will  love  you,  and  there  will  be  no  rebellion 
there  as  here." 

"Who  rebels  in  our  kingdom?"  said  Francois  de 
Valois,  putting  on  his  dressing-gown  and  taking  Mary 
Stuart  on  his  knee. 

"Oh!  this  is  all  very  sweet,  most  assuredly," 
she  said,  hiding  her  cheek  from  the  king,  "  but  by 
your  leave,  my  gentle  sire,  you  have  to  reign." 

"  Why  talk  of  reigning?  It  is  my  will  this  morn- 
ing-" 

"  Need  you  say  it  is  my  will,  when  you  can  do 
whatever  you  choose?  Such  talk  is  neither  kingly 
nor  loverlike.  But  no  matter  about  that!  We  have 
important  business  on  hand." 

"Oho!"  said  the  king,  "it  is  a  long  while  since 
we  have  had  any  business.     Is  it  amusing?" 

"No,"  said  Mary,  "it  has  to  do  with  leaving 
Blois." 

"  I  will  wager,  my  love,  that  you  have  seen  one 
of  your  uncles,  who  manage  so  well  that  at  seven- 
teen I  appear  to  be  a  roi  faindant.  In  very  truth,  I 
do  not  know  why  I  have  continued  to  attend  the 
councils  since  the  first  one.  They  could  do  every- 
thing just  as  well  by  putting  a  crown  on  my  chair, 
for  I  see  things  only  through  their  eyes  and  give  my 
decisions  blindly." 

"  O  monsieur,"  cried  the  queen,  standing  over  the 
king  and  pretending  to  be  angry,  "  it  was  agreed  that 
you  should  not  worry  me  any  more  on  that  subject, 
and  that  my  uncles  should  use  the  royal  power  for 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  175 

the  welfare  of  your  people.  They  are  a  nice  lot, 
this  people  of  yours!  if  you  should  undertake  to  rule 
them  alone,  they  would  swallow  you  bodily  like  a 
strawberry.  They  need  men  of  war,  a  stern  master 
and  iron-gloved  hands;  and  you,  why  you  are  a 
darling  whom  I  love  so  dearly  and  whom  I  can 
never  love  less,  do  you  hear,  monsieur?"  she  said, 
kissing  the  forehead  of  the  child,  who  seemed  to 
be  offended  at  her  speech,  but  whom  that  caress 
speedily  mollified. 

"  Oh!  if  they  were  only  not  your  uncles!"  cried 
Frangois  II.  "  That  cardinal  is  exceedingly  dis- 
agreeable to  me,  and  when  he  puts  on  that  whee- 
dling air  of  his  and  his  humble  manners  and  says  to 
me,  bowing  to  the  ground:  *  Sire,  the  honor  of  the 
crown  and  the  faith  of  your  ancestors  are  at  stake 
here, — Your  Majesty  cannot  permit — '  And  so  forth 
and  so  on.  I  am  sure  that  he  is  at  work  solely  for 
his  infernal  House  of  Lorraine." 

"  How  well  you  imitated  him!"  said  the  queen. 
"  But  why  don't  you  employ  these  Lorraines  to 
keep  you  informed  of  what  is  going  on,  so  that 
you  can  reign  yourself,  in  due  time,  when  you 
attain  your  majority?  I  am  your  wife,  and  your 
honor  is  mine.  We  will  reign  some  day,  I  promise 
you,  my  love!  But  our  path  will  not  be  all  roses 
until  the  time  comes  when  we  can  do  as  we  please, 
there  is  nothing  so  hard  for  a  king  to  do  as  to 
reign.  Am  I  queen,  I  should  like  to  know?  Do  you 
think  that  your  mother  doesn't  repay  me  in  evil  for 
all  that  my  uncles  are  doing  for  the  splendor  of  your 


176  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

throne?  And  what  a  difference!  My  uncles  are 
great  princes,  nephews  of  Charlemagne,  full  of  es- 
teem for  you  and  only  too  willing  to  die  for  you; 
whereas  this  daughter  of  a  doctor  or  shopkeeper,  a 
queen  by  accident,  is  as  shrewish  as  a  bourgeoise 
who  doesn't  rule  in  her  own  house.  On  all  occa- 
sions this  Italian  shows  me  her  pale,  solemn  face, 
like  a  woman  who  is  displeased  because  she  can't 
turn  everything  upside-down;  and  she  says  with 
her  thin,  pinched  lips:  *  My  daughter,  you  are  queen 
and  I  am  only  the  second  woman  in  the  kingdom.' — 
She  is  frantic,  don't  you  see,  my  darling? — *  But  if  1 
were  in  your  place  I  would  not  wear  scarlet  velvet 
while  all  the  court  is  in  mourning,  nor  would  I  appear 
in  public  with  my  hair  smooth  and  without  jewels, 
because  a  thing  that  is  unbecoming  to  a  simple  lady 
is  still  less  becoming  to  a  queen.  Also  I  should  not 
dance  myself,  but  should  content  myself  with  watch- 
ing others  dance!' — That  is  the  way  she  talks  to 
me." 

"  Oh!  mon  Dieu  !  "  exclaimed  the  king,  "  I  believe 
I  hear  her.     Mon  Dieu  !  if  she  should  know — " 

"Ah!  you  still  tremble  before  her,"  she  replied. 
"She  annoys  you,  doesn't  she?  Let  us  send  her 
away.  Faith!  as  for  deceiving  you,  we  must  expect 
that,  she  is  from  Florence;  but  when  it  comes  to 
annoying  you — " 

"  In  Heaven's  name,  hush,  Mary!"  said  Francois, 
afraid  and  well  pleased  at  the  same  time;  "  I  should 
not  like  you  to  lose  her  friendship." 

"  Have  no  fear  that  she  will  ever  fall  out  with  me, 


AT  THE   CHATEAU  OF  BLOIS 


''Let  us  go,"  said  the  king. 

"  Go!  "  cried  the  grand  master,  suddenly  entering 
the  room.  "  Yes,  sire,  we  must  leave  Blois.  Pardon 
my  boldness  ;  but  circumstances  are  more  important 
than  etiquette,  and  I  come  to  beg  you  to  hold  a 
council^ 


O^^yMj^/tl  fd'Uii  >^y  0.  JXJAi^Ui^  y  Ut^t. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  177 

who  wear  the  three  grandest  crowns  in  the  world, 
my  dear  little  king,"  said  Mary  Stuart.  "Although 
she  hates  me  for  a  thousand  reasons,  she  cajoles  me 
in  order  to  separate  me  from  my  uncles." 

"  Hates  you!" 

"Yes,  my  angel;  if  I  had  not  innumerable  proofs 
of  that  sentiment,  of  the  sort  that  women  give  one 
another, — proofs  whose  malicious  meaning  they  alone 
understand, — her  constant  opposition  to  our  love 
would  be  enough.  Is  it  my  fault  that  your  father 
was  never  able  to  endure  Mademoiselle  de'  Medici? 
Indeed,  she  loves  me  so  little  that,  if  you  had  not 
lost  your  temper,  we  should  have  had  separate 
apartments,  here  and  at  Saint-Germain.  She  de- 
clared that  that  was  the  custom  among  kings  and 
queens  of  France.  Custom!  it  was  your  father's 
custom,  and  no  wonder.  As  for  your  grandfather, 
Francois,  the  goodman  adopted  the  custom  for  the 
convenience  of  his  amours.  So  be  very  careful,  if 
we  go  away  from  here,  that  the  grand  master  does 
not  part  us." 

"If  we  go  away  from  here,  Mary?  Why,  I  do 
not  propose  to  leave  this  delightful  chateau,  from 
which  we  can  see  the  Loire  and  Blois  and  its  neigh- 
borhood, a  town  at  our  feet,  and  the  loveliest  sky  in 
the  world  over  our  heads,  and  these  beautiful  gar- 
dens. If  I  go  from  here,  it  will  be  to  go  to  Italy  with 
you,  to  see  Saint  Peter's,  and  Raphael's  pictures." 

"And  the  orange-trees?  Oh!  my  darling  king,  if 
you  knew  how  your  Mary  longs  to  walk  under 
orange-trees  in  flower  and  fruit!  Alas!  perhaps  I 
12 


178  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

shall  never  see  such  things.  Oh!  to  hear  an  Italian 
song  under  those  perfumed  trees,  on  the  shore  of  a 
blue  ocean,  beneath  a  blue  sky,  and  to  sit  together 
thus!" 

"  Let  us  go,"  said  the  king. 

"Go!"  cried  the  grand  master,  suddenly  entering 
the  room.  **  Yes,  sire,  we  must  leave  Blois.  Pardon 
my  boldness;  but  circumstances  are  more  impor- 
tant than  etiquette,  and  I  come  to  beg  you  to  hold  a 
council." 

Mary  and  Francois  had  hastily  separated,  when 
they  were  thus  taken  by  surprise,  and  their  faces 
wore  the  same  expression  of  offended  royal  majesty. 

**  You  are  a  too  grand  master.  Monsieur  de  Guise," 
said  the  young  king,  restraining  his  wrath. 

"To  the  devil  with  lovers!"  the  cardinal  whispered 
in  Catherine's  ear. 

"  My  son,"  said  the  queen-mother,  appearing  from 
behind  the  cardinal,  "  the  safety  of  your  person  and 
of  your  kingdom  is  at  stake." 

"  Heresy  was  awake  while  you  were  sleeping, 
sire,"  said  the  cardinal. 

"Withdraw  to  the  council-hall,"  said  the  little 
king,  "  and  we  will  hold  a  council." 

"  Madame,"  said  the  grand  master  to  the  queen, 
"  your  furrier's  son  has  brought  you  your  furs, 
which  arrive  very  opportunely  for  the  journey, 
for  it  is  probable  that  we  shall  go  by  the  Loire. — 
But,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  queen-mother,  "  he 
wishes  to  speak  to  you  as  well,  madame.  While 
the  king  is  dressing,  will  not  you  and  Madame  la 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  179 

reine  despatch  your  business  with  him,  so  that  we 
may  not  be  annoyed  and  delayed  by  this  trifling 
matter?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Catherine,  adding  mentally: 
"If  he  expects  to  get  rid  of  me  by  such  ruses,  he 
does  not  know  me." 


The  cardinal  and  the  duke  withdrew,  leaving  the 
two  queens  and  the  king  together.  As  he  passed 
through  the  salle  des  gardes  on  his  way  to  the  salle 
du  conseil,  the  grand  master  bade  the  usher  bring 
the  queen's  furrier  before  him.  When  Christophe 
saw  the  usher,  whom  he  took  for  a  personage  of  im- 
portance, coming  toward  him  from  the  farther  end 
of  the  hall,  his  heart  failed  him;  and  the  sensation  of 
alarm,  so  natural  at  the  approach  of  the  critical  mo- 
ment, became  horrible  when  the  usher,  whose  move- 
ments resulted  in  directing  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
brilliant  assemblage  upon  Christophe,  his  packages, 
and  his  shabby  aspect,  said  to  him: 

"  Messeigneurs  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  and  the 
grand  master  have  sent  for  you  to  speak  with  them 
in  the  council-chamber." 

"Can  I  have  been  betrayed.?"  thought  the  de- 
fenceless ambassador  of  the  reformers. 

He  followed  the  usher,  keeping  his  eyes  on  the 
ground,  and  did  not  raise  them  until  he  had  been 
ushered  into  the  vast  salle  du  conseil,  which  was 
almost  equal  in  size  to  the  salle  des  gardes.  The 
two  Lorraine  princes  were  standing  before  the 
superb  fireplace  on  the  other  side  of  the  partition 
from  the  one  in  the  salle  des  gardes,  before  which 
the  maids  of  honor  of  the  two  queens  were  standing. 
(i8i) 


1 82  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  You  come  from  Paris;  what  route  did  you  take?" 

"  I  came  by  water,  monseigneur." 

"How  did  you  enter  Blois?"  said  the  grand 
master. 

"  By  way  of  the  harbor,  monseigneur." 

"And  no  one  molested  you?"  said  the  duke, 
keeping  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  young  man. 

"  No,  monseigneur.  I  told  the  first  soldier  who 
seemed  disposed  to  stop  me,  that  I  had  come  on 
business  with  the  two  queens,  whose  furrier  my 
father  is." 

"What  is  going  on  in  Paris?"  the  cardinal  in- 
quired. 

"  They  are  still  searching  for  the  murderer  of 
President  Minard." 

"  Aren't  you  the  son  of  my  surgeon's  greatest 
friend?"  said  the  Due  de  Guise,  deceived  by  the 
innocent  expression  assumed  by  Christophe  as  soon 
as  his  first  alarm  had  subsided. 

"Yes,  monseigneur." 

The  grand  master  turned  away,  hastily  raised 
the  portiere  which  concealed  the  folding-doors  of  the 
salle  du  conseil,  and  showed  his  face  to  the  whole 
assemblage,  seeking  the  king's  first  surgeon.  Am- 
broise,  who  was  standing  in  a  corner,  met  the  duke's 
eye  and  walked  toward  him.  Ambroise,  who  was 
already  leaning  toward  the  Reformed  religion,  ended 
by  adopting  it;  but  the  friendship  of  the  Guises  and 
of  the  kings  of  France  sheltered  him  from  all  the 
disasters  which  overtook  the  reformers.  The  duke, 
who  considered  that  he  was  indebted  to  Ambroise 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  183 

Pare  for  his  life,  had  procured  his  appointment  as 
the  king's  first  surgeon  some  days  before. 

"  What  is  your  will,  monseigneur?"  said  Ambroise. 
"  Is  the  king  ill?     I  should  not  be  surprised." 

"Why  so?" 

"  The  queen  is  too  pretty,"  the  surgeon  replied. 

"  Oho!"  ejaculated  the  duke,  in  surprise.  "  How- 
ever, that  is  not  why  I  wanted  you,"  he  continued, 
after  a  pause.  "Ambroise,  I  want  to  introduce  you  to 
a  friend  of  yours,"  he  said,  leading  him  to  the  door 
of  the  council-chamber  and  pointing  to  Christophe. 

"Ah!  true,  monseigneur,"  cried  the  surgeon, 
holding  out  his  hand  to  Christophe. — "  How's  your 
father,  my  boy?" 

"  Very  well.  Master  Ambroise,"  Christophe  re- 
plied. 

"  Why  on  earth  have  you  come  to  court?"  said 
the  surgeon;  "  it  is  not  your  business  to  carry  pack- 
ages, your  father  intends  to  make  you  a  lawyer. 
Do  you  seek  the  patronage  of  these  two  great  princes 
to  help  you  in  your  profession?" 

*'Mon  Dieu,  yes,"  said  Christophe,  "and  in  my 
father's  interest,  too;  if  you  can  intercede  for  us," 
he  said,  assuming  a  piteous  expression,  "pray  add 
your  entreaties  to  mine  to  obtain  from  Monseigneur 
the  Grand  Master  an  order  for  the  payment  of  the 
sums  due  to  my  father,  for  he  does  not  know  which 
way  to  turn." 

The  cardinal  and  the  grand  master  exchanged 
glances  and  seemed  satisfied. 

"  Now  leave  us,"  said  the  grand  master,  waving 


1 84  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

his  hand  to  Ambroise. — "  And  do  you,  my  friend," 
he  said  to  Christophe,  "  settle  your  business  speedily 
and  return  to  Paris.  My  secretary  will  give  you  a 
safe-conduct ;  for  it  will  not  be  safe  travelling  on  the 
high-roads,  mordieu!" 

Neither  of  the  two  brothers  had  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  the  momentous  interests  dependent  upon 
Christophe,  being  fully  satisfied  that  he  was  really 
the  son  of  that  loyal  Catholic,  Lecamus,  furrier  to 
the  court,  and  that  he  had  come  only  to  procure  his 
money. 

"  Take  him  to  the  queen's  chamber;  she  will  ask 
for  him  in  a  moment,  doubtless,"  said  the  cardinal 
to  the  surgeon,  pointing  to  Christophe. 

While  the  furrier's  son  was  being  questioned  in 
the  salle  du  conseil,  the  king  had  left  the  queen  with 
her  mother-in-law  and  gone  to  his  dressing-room, 
which  was  reached  through  the  cabinet  adjoining  the 
chamber. 

Standing  in  the  broad  recess  of  an  enormous 
window,  Queen  Catherine  was  gazing  out  upon  the 
gardens,  a  prey  to  the  most  melancholy  thoughts. 
She  foresaw  that  one  of  the  greatest  soldiers  of  the 
age  would  be  substituted  that  very  morning,  in- 
stantly, for  her  son,  for  the  King  of  France,  under 
the  redoubtable  title  of  lieutenant-general  of  the 
kingdom.  In  face  of  that  peril,  she  was  alone, 
powerless  to  act,  defenceless.  In  her  mourning 
garb,  which  she  never  laid  aside  after  the  death  of 
Henri  II.,  she  could  fittingly  be  compared  to  a  phan- 
tom, her  pale  face  had  become  so  statuelike  by  much 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  185 

reflection.  Her  black  eyes  floated  in  that  indecision 
which  is  considered  so  blameworthy  in  great  politi- 
cians, but  which  is  due  to  the  very  extent  of  the 
glance  with  which  they  descry  all  the  difficulties  in 
their  path,  setting  them  off  against  one  another,  and 
computing  the  chances,  so  to  speak,  before  making 
up  their  minds.  Her  ears  were  ringing,  her  blood  was 
rushing  madly  through  her  veins,  and  yet  she  main- 
tained a  dignified,  tranquil  bearing,  measuring  the 
depth  of  the  political  abyss  in  excess  of  that  of  the 
physical  abyss  that  lay  at  her  feet.  As  the  day  of 
the  arrest  of  the  Vidame  de  Chartres  was  the  first,  so 
this  was  the  second  of  those  terrible  days  which  were 
so  numerous  during  the  remainder  of  her  royal  life; 
but  this  was  her  last  blunder  in  the  school  of  power. 
Although  the  sceptre  seemed  to  be  escaping  from  her 
hands,  she  was  determined  to  grasp  it,  and  she  did 
grasp  it  by  virtue  of  that  powerful  will,  which  was 
never  tired  out,  either  by  the  contempt  of  her  father- 
in-law,  Francois  II.,  and  his  court,  where  she  had 
been  of  so  little  consequence,  dauphiness  though  she 
was,  or  by  the  constant  slights  of  Henri  II.,  or  by  the 
formidable  opposition  of  her  rival,  Diane  de  Poitiers. 
A  man  would  have  utterly  failed  to  understand 
this  thwarted  queen ;  but  the  fair-haired  Mary, 
shrewd,  clever  creature  that  she  was,  so  girlish  and 
withal  so  well  informed,  watched  her  out  of  the 
corner  of  her  eye,  humming  an  Italian  air  and  feign- 
ing indifference.  Although  she  could  not  divine  the 
tempest  of  restrained  ambition  which  brought  drops 
of  cold  perspiration  to  the  Florentine's  brow,  the 


1 86  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

pretty  Scotch  girl  with  the  roguish  face  knew  that 
the  elevation  of  her  uncle  the  Due  de  Guise  caused 
Catherine  to  rage  and  fume  inwardly.  Now,  noth- 
ing was  so  entertaining  to  her  as  to  play  the  spy 
upon  her  mother-in-law,  whom  she  considered  an 
intriguing  creature,  an  upstart  humiliated  and  al- 
ways ready  to  grasp  an  opportunity  for  revenge. 
Her  face  was  grave  and  moody,  almost  terrifying, 
because  of  the  livid  hue  of  the  women  of  Italy  which 
makes  their  complexion  resemble  yellow  ivory  by 
daylight,  although  it  becomes  dazzlingly  brilliant  by 
candle-light;  whereas  the  other's  face  was  rosy  and 
merry.  At  sixteen  years  of  age,  Mary  Stuart's  com- 
plexion had  that  pure  whiteness  of  a  perfect  blonde 
which  made  her  so  celebrated.  Her  fresh,  piquant 
face,  so  pure  in  outline,  sparkled  with  childish 
roguishness,  clearly  expressed  in  the  regularity  of  her 
eyebrows,  in  the  bright  sparkle  of  her  eyes,  and  in 
the  saucy  curve  of  her  lovely  mouth.  Thus  early 
in  life  she  displayed  those  kittenish  charms  which 
nothing  could  destroy — not  captivity,  nor  the  ghastly 
sight  of  her  own  scaffold.  Thus,  those  two  queens, 
one  at  the  dawn,  the  other  in  the  summer  of  life, 
formed  a  most  complete  contrast  to  each  other. 
Catherine  was  an  imposing  queen,  an  impenetrable 
widow,  with  no  other  passion  than  the  passion  for 
power.  Mary  was  a  giddy  creature,  a  heedless 
bride,  who  made  playthings  of  her  queenly  crowns. 
The  former  foresaw  terrible  disasters,  she  had 
visions  of  the  assassination  of  the  Guises,  divining 
that  that  would   prove  to  be  the  only  method  of 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  187 

crushing  men  who  were  quite  capable  of  rising 
above  the  throne  and  the  Parliament;  and  she  fore- 
saw the  bloodshed  of  a  long  conflict;  the  other  had 
no  suspicion  that  she  was  destined  to  be  murdered 
under  the  forms  of  law.  A  curious  reflection  re- 
stored the  Italian's  tranquillity  to  some  extent. 

"According  to  what  the  soothsayer  and  Ruggieri 
say,  this  reign  will  soon  end;  my  embarrassment 
will  be  of  brief  duration,"  she  thought. 

Thus,  strangely  enough,  an  occult  science,  to-day 
unknown, — judicial  astrology, — served  Catherine  as 
a  prop  at  that  moment,  as  it  did  throughout  her  life, 
for  her  faith  in  it  constantly  increased  as  she  saw 
that  the  predictions  of  those  who  practised  that 
science  were  fulfilled  with  minute  exactness. 

"  You  are  very  thoughtful,  madame,  are  you  not.?" 
said  Mary  Stuart,  as  she  took  from  Dayelle's  hands 
the  little  cap  which  she  wore  on  top  of  her  head, 
with  its  two  wings  of  rich  lace  resting  on  the  fair 
locks  which  clustered  about  her  temples. 

Painters  with  their  brushes  have  so  often  repre- 
sented that  head-dress  that  it  may  be  considered  as 
belonging  exclusively  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  al- 
though Catherine  designed  it  for  herself  when  she 
was  obliged  to  wear  mourning  for  Henri  II.;  but 
she  could  not  wear  it  with  the  graceful  charm  of  her 
daughter-in-law,  to  whom  it  was  far  more  becoming. 
This  was  not  the  least  of  the  queen-mother's  many 
grievances  against  the  young  queen. 

"Does  the  queen  mean  to  reproach  me?"  said 
Catherine,  turning  toward  her  daughter-in-law. 


l88  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"I  owe  you  all  respect  and  should  not  dare," 
retorted  the  Scotch  girl,  maliciously,  glancing  at 
Dayelle. 

The  favorite  maid  stood  between  the  two  queens 
as  motionless  as  a  fire-dog;  a  smile  of  approbation 
might  cost  her  her  life. 

"  How  can  I  be  as  light  of  heart  as  you,  just  after 
losing  the  late  king,  and  when  I  see  that  my  son's 
kingdom  is  on  the  point  of  bursting  into  flame?" 

"  Women  have  little  concern  with  political  affairs," 
rejoined  Mary  Stuart.  "At  all  events,  my  uncles  are 
here." 

Those  words  were  like  poisoned  arrows  under 
existing  circumstances. 

"Let  us  look  at  our  furs,  madame,"  replied  the 
Italian,  ironically;  "  in  that  way  we  can  attend  to 
our  proper  affairs  while  your  uncles  decide  the  affairs 
of  the  realm." 

"Oh!  but  we  shall  be  present  at  the  council, 
madame;  we  are  more  useful  there  than  you  imag- 
ine." 

"We.-*"  said  Catherine,  with  an  air  of  amaze- 
ment.    "  But  I  do  not  know  Latin." 

"You  think  me  very  learned!"  laughed  Mary 
Stuart.  "Ah!  well,  madame,  I  give  you  my  word 
that  at  this  moment  I  am  studying  to  know  as  much 
as  the  Medicis,  so  that  I  may  be  able  some  day  to 
cure  the  wounds  of  the  kingdom." 

Catherine  was  cut  to  the  heart  by  that  stinging 
retort  which  alluded  to  the  origin  of  the  Medicis, 
who  were  descended,  according  to  some  authorities. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  189 

from  a  physician,  and  according  to  otiiers,  from  a 
wealthy  druggist.  She  could  think  of  no  retort. 
Dayelle  blushed  when  her  mistress  looked  at  her 
in  search  of  the  applause  which  everybody,  even 
a  queen,  craves  from  her  inferiors  when  there  are 
no  spectators. 

"Your  charming  words,  madame,  unfortunately 
cannot  cure  either  the  wounds  of  the  State  or  those 
of  the  Church,"  observed  Catherine,  with  calm,  cold 
dignity.  "  My  ancestors'  knowledge,  in  that  direction, 
gave  them  thrones;  whereas  you  may  lose  yours,  if, 
while  danger  is  impending,  you  continue  to  jest." 

At  this  juncture,  Dayelle  opened  the  door  and 
admitted  Christophe,  whom  the  first  surgeon  him- 
self announced  by  scratching. 

The  reformer  attempted  to  study  Catherine's 
face,  feigning  an  embarrassment  by  no  means  un- 
natural in  such  a  place;  but  he  was  taken  by  sur- 
prise by  the  vivacity  of  Queen  Mary,  who  pounced 
upon  his  package  in  her  haste  to  see  her  surcot. 

"Madame,"  said  Christophe,  addressing  the  Flor- 
entine. 

He  turned  his  back  to  the  other  queen  and  Dayelle, 
taking  instant  advantage  of  the  attention  the  two 
women  were  bestowing  upon  the  furs  to  attempt  a 
bold  stroke. 

"What  do  you  wish  with  me?"  said  Catherine, 
darting  a  piercing  glance  at  him. 

Christophe  had  placed  the  treaty  proposed  by  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  the  plan  of  operations  of  the  re- 
formers, and  the  detailed  statement  of  their  forces. 


190  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

between  his  shirt  and  his  broadcloth  doublet,  the 
whole  wrapped  in  the  memorandum  of  the  sum 
Catherine  owed  the  furrier. 

"  Madame,"  he  said,  **  my  father  is  sadly  in  need 
of  money,  and  if  you  will  deign  to  cast  your  eyes 
upon  our  account,"  he  added,  unfolding  the  paper 
and  placing  the  treaty  uppermost,  "  you  will  see 
that  Your  Majesty  owes  him  six  thousand  crowns. 
Pray  take  pity  on  us.     See,  madame!" 

And  he  handed  her  the  treaty. 

"  Read.  It  dates  from  the  late  king's  accession  to 
the  throne." 

Catherine  was  bewildered  by  the  preamble  of  the 
treaty,  but  she  did  not  lose  her  head;  she  hastily 
rolled  up  the  paper,  admiring  the  young  man's  hardi- 
hood and  presence  of  mind;  that  masterly  stroke  made 
her  feel  certain  that  she  would  be  understood,  and  she 
said,  tapping  his  cheek  with  the  roll  of  paper: 

"  You  are  very  awkward,  my  young  friend,  to  pre- 
sent the  account  before  the  furs.  You  must  learn  to 
know  women  better!  You  should  never  present  your 
bill  until  we  are  satisfied." 

"  Is  that  a  tradition?"  the  young  queen  asked  her 
mother-in-law,  who  made  no  reply. 

"  Oh!  mesdames,  pray  excuse  my  father,"  said 
Christophe.  "If  he  were  not  in  need  of  money, 
you  would  not  have  had  your  furs.  The  country  is 
up  in  arms,  and  there  is  so  much  danger  on  the 
roads  that  nothing  less  than  our  distress  would  have 
brought  me  here.  No  one  but  myself  was  willing  to 
venture," 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  191 

"  This  lad  is  decidedly  inexperienced,"  said  Mary 
Stuart,  with  a  smile. 

It  may  be  well,  for  the  understanding  of  this  trivial 
but  momentous  scene,  to  remark  that  a  surcot  was, 
as  the  word  itself  indicates, — surcotte, — a  sort  of  tight- 
fitting  jacket,  which  women  wore  over  their  bodices, 
and  which  reached  to  the  hips,  following  the  outline 
of  the  figure.  It  protected  the  back,  the  chest,  and 
the  neck  from  the  cold.  Surcots  were  lined  with  fur 
of  which  there  was  also  a  border  on  the  outside, 
wider  or  narrower,  as  it  happened.  Mary  Stuart,  as 
she  tried  on  the  new  garment,  looked  at  herself  in  a 
great  Venetian  mirror  to  see  how  it  fitted  behind; 
she  thus  gave  her  mother-in-law  an  opportunity  to 
examine  the  papers,  the  bulk  of  which  might  other- 
wise have  aroused  her  suspicion. 

"  Does  a  man  ever  speak  to  women  of  the  risks 
he  has  run,  when  he  has  come  through  them  safe 
and  sound  and  can  see  them?"  said  the  young  queen 
to  Christophe,  turning  so  that  he  could  see  her. 

"  Ah!  madame,  I  have  your  account,  too,"  he 
said,  looking  at  her  with  well-feigned  simplicity. 

The  young  queen  looked  closely  at  him  without 
taking  the  paper,  and  noticed,  but  did  not  attach  the 
least  importance  to  the  fact,  that  he  had  taken 
Queen  Catherine's  account  from  his  bosom,  while 
he  produced  hers  from  his  pocket.  Nor  did  she  see 
in  the  boy's  eyes  the  admiration  which  her  beauty 
aroused  in  everybody;  but  she  was  so  engrossed  by 
her  surcot  that  she  did  not  at  once  ask  herself  the 
explanation  of  his  indifference. 


192  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  Take  the  account,  Dayelle!"  she  said  to  her 
maid;  "  you  will  hand  it  to  Monsieur  de  Versailles — 
Lomenie — and  tell  him  from  me  to  pay  it." 

"  Oh!  madame,  unless  you  obtain  an  order  for 
me  signed  by  the  king  or  by  the  grand  master,  who 
is  in  yonder  hall,  your  gracious  word  would  have  no 
effect." 

"  You  are  more  malapert  than  becomes  a  subject, 
my  friend,"  said  Mary  Stuart.  "  Have  you  no  faith, 
pray,  in  royal  promises?" 

At  that  moment,  the  king  appeared,  in  silk  stock- 
ings and  knee-breeches, — the  trousers  of  that  period, 
— but  without  doublet  or  cloak;  he  wore  a  rich  vel- 
vet redingote  edged  with  menu-vair — miniver;  that  is 
the  only  term  in  our  modern  language  which  will 
describe  the  king's  undress  costume. 

"Who  is  the  knave  that  dares  doubt  your  word?" 
said  Francois,  who  heard  his  wife's  last  remark,  not- 
withstanding the  distance  between  them. 

The  door  of  the  cabinet  was  concealed  by  the 
royal  bed.  It  was  called  at  a  later  period  the  "  old 
cabinet,"  to  distinguish  it  from  the  rich  cabinet  of 
paintings  which  Henri  111.  arranged  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity of  the  apartment,  toward  the  hall  of  the 
States  General.  Henri  III.  concealed  the  murderers 
in  this  old  cabinet,  and  sent  to  the  Due  de  Guise  to 
join  him  there;  and,  during  the  murder,  he  remained 
hidden  in  the  new  cabinet,  whence  he  emerged  only 
in  time  to  witness  the  death  of  that  audacious  sub- 
ject, for  whom  there  was  no  prison,  no  court,  no 
judges,   no   laws   in  the   realm.     Except  for  that 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  193 

ghastly  circumstance,  the  historian  would  find  diffi- 
culty to-day  in  identifying  all  these  halls  and  cabi- 
nets, now  filled  with  soldiers.  A  quartermaster 
writes  to  his  mistress  on  the  very  spot  where  Cath- 
erine, lost  in  thought,  determined  upon  her  conflict 
with  the  various  factions. 

"Come,  my  friend,"  said  the  queen-mother, 
"and  I  will  see  that  you  are  paid.  Trade  must 
live,  and  money  is  its  principal  nerve." 

"  Go,  my  dear  youth,"  said  the  young  queen, 
with  a  laugh;  "my  august  mother  is  better  versed 
than  I  in  commercial  affairs." 

Catherine  was  about  to  leave  the  room  with- 
out replying  to  this  last  epigram;  but  she  reflected 
that  her  indifference  might  awake  suspicion,  so  she 
quickly  retorted: 

"  And  you,  my  dear,  understand  the  commerce  of 
love  better  than  I." 

With  that  she  took  her  leave. 

"  Put  away  the  furs,  Dayelle. — And  let  us  go  to 
the  council,  monsieur,"  said  the  young  queen,  over- 
joyed at  the  opportunity  to  decide,  in  the  queen- 
mother's  absence,  the  momentous  question  of  the 
lieutenancy  of  the  kingdom. 

Mary  Stuart  took  the  king's  arm.  Dayelle  went 
out  first,  saying  a  word  to  the  pages;  and  one  of 
them,  young  Teligny,  who  was  destined  to  die  a 
shocking  death  in  the  Saint-Bartholomew  affair, 
cried  out: 

"The  king!" 

At  the  word,  the  two  arquebusiers  presented  arms 
13 


194  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

and  the  two  pages  led  the  way  toward  the  council- 
chamber,  through  the  double  line  formed  by  the 
courtiers  and  the  female  attendants  of  the  two 
queens.  All  the  members  of  the  council  gathered 
in  a  group  at  the  door  of  the  council-chamber,  which 
was  only  a  short  distance  from  the  door  leading  to 
the  staircase.  The  grand  master,  the  cardinal, 
and  the  chancellor  stepped  forward  to  meet  the 
youthful  sovereigns,  who  smiled  at  some  of  the 
maids  of  honor  and  answered  the  questions  of  a  few 
courtiers  who  were  on  more  familiar  terms  than  the 
others.  But  the  young  queen  was  evidently  im- 
patient, and  drew  Francois  11.  toward  the  great 
council-chamber.  When  the  heavy  sound  of  the 
arquebuses,  ringing  on  the  floor,  announced  that 
the  royal  couple  had  entered,  the  pages  replaced 
their  caps  on  their  heads,  and  the  noblemen  con- 
tinued their  private  conversations  concerning  the 
momentous  affairs  about  to  be  discussed. 

**  They  sent  Chiverni  to  summon  the  constable, 
and  he  has  not  come,"  said  one. 

"  There  is  no  prince  of  the  blood  here,"  observed 
another. 

"  The  chancellor  and  Monsieur  de  Tournon  seemed 
very  anxious!" 

**  The  grand  master  sent  word  to  the  keeper  of  the 
seals  not  to  fail  to  be  present  at  the  council;  doubtless 
there  will  be  some  new  letters  patent  as  the  result 
of  it." 

"  How  can  the  queen-mother  remain  below,  in  her 
own  apartments,  at  such  a  moment.?" 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  195 

"They  are  going  to  cut  out  some  work  for  us," 
said  Groslot  to  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon. 

In  fact,  everyone  had  his  word  to  say.  Some 
went  in  and  out  of  the  great  hall,  others  fluttered 
about  the  attendants  of  the  two  queens,  as  if  they 
hoped  to  catch  a  word  or  two  through  a  wall  three 
feet  thick,  or  through  two  doors  and  the  rich  por- 
tieres which  hung  before  them. 

Seated  at  the  head  of  the  long  table  covered  with 
blue  velvet,  which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  council- 
chamber,  the  king,  by  whose  side  the  young  queen 
had  taken  her  place  in  a  great  armchair,  was  await- 
ing his  mother.  Robertet  was  mending  his  pens. 
The  two  cardinals,  the  grand  master,  the  chancellor, 
the  keeper  of  the  seals,  the  whole  council,  in  short, 
watched  the  little  king,  wondering  why  he  did  not 
bid  them  be  seated. 

"  Shall  we  deliberate  in  the  absence  of  Madame 
la  reine  mere?"  said  the  chancellor,  addressing  the 
king. 

The  two  Lorraine  princes  attributed  Catherine's 
absence  to  some  stratagem  on  their  niece's  part. 
Inspired  by  a  significant  glance  from  her,  the  pre- 
sumptuous cardinal  said  to  the  king: 

"Is  it  the  king's  good  pleasure  that  we  begin 
without  Madame  la  reine  m^re.?" 

Francois  1!.,  not  daring  to  declare  his  wishes, 
answered: 

"  Be  seated,  messieurs." 

The  cardinal  set  forth  briefly  the  perils  of  the  sit- 
uation.    That  great  politician,  who  was  wonderfully 


196  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

adroit  in  such  emergencies,  broached  the  question  of 
the  lieutenancy  amid  a  profound  silence.  Doubtless 
the  young  king  was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  oppres- 
sion and  realized  that  his  mother  had  the  utmost  re- 
gard for  the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  knew  by  what 
dangers  his  power  was  threatened,  for  he  replied  to 
a  further  direct  question  from  the  cardinal: 
"  Let  us  await  the  queen  my  mother." 
Enlightened  by  Queen  Catherine's  extraordinary 
delay,  Mary  suddenly,  at  the  same  instant,  recalled 
three  circumstances,  which  she  remembered  vividly. 
First,  the  great  bulk  of  the  account  presented  to  her 
mother-in-law,  which  had  impressed  her  although 
her  mind  was  elsewhere,  for  a  woman  who  seems  to 
see  nothing  is  a  veritable  lynx;  secondly,  the  place 
in  which  Christophe  kept  it,  separate  from  her  own. 
"  Why  was  that.?"  she  wondered. 
And,  thirdly,  she  remembered  the  fellow's  indif- 
ferent expression,  which  she  at  once  attributed  to 
a  reformer's  hatred  of  the  niece  of  the  Guises.  An 
inward  voice  cried  out:  "  Might  he  not  be  a  mes- 
senger of  the  Huguenots.?" — Obeying,  like  all  ardent 
natures,  her  first  impulse,  she  said: 

"  1  will  go  myself  and  bring  my  mother!" 
With  that  she  abruptly  left  the  room  and  ran 
hastily  downstairs,  to  the  unbounded  amazement  of 
courtiers  and  ladies;  she  went  down  to  her  mother- 
in-law's  suite,  passed  through  the  salle  des  gardes  on 
that  floor,  opened  the  bedroom  door  as  cautiously 
as  a  thief,  glided  through  like  a  shadow,  and  saw 
her  nowhere;  she  thought  that  she  was  certain  to 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  197 

surprise  her  in  the  superb  closet  between  the  bed- 
room and  the  oratory.  The  arrangement  of  that 
oratory,  which,  by  the  customs  of  that  epoch,  played 
the  same  part  in  private  life  that  is  played  by  the 
boudoir  to-day,  can  still  be  recognized. 

By  a  chance  that  seems  inexplicable  when  we 
consider  the  state  of  dilapidation  in  which  the  crown 
leaves  the  chateau  of  Blois,  the  beautiful  wainscoting 
of  Catherine's  closet  still  exists,  and  in  that  finely 
carved  wainscoting  the  curious  observer  can  still 
detect  traces  of  its  Italian  magnificence  and  dis- 
cover the  hiding-places  which  the  queen-mother  had 
had  made  there.  An  exact  description  of  these  curi- 
osities is  essential  to  a  proper  understanding  of  what 
was  about  to  take  place.  The  wainscoting  consisted 
of  about  a  hundred  and  eighty  small  oblong  panels,  of 
which  a  hundred  or  more  still  exist,  all  embellished 
with  arabesques  of  different  designs,  evidently  sug- 
gested by  the  most  beautiful  arabesques  of  Italy. 
The  wood  is  evergreen  oak.  The  red  which  we  find 
under  the  whitewash,  which  was  laid  on  as  a  pro- 
tection against  cholera, — a  useless  precaution, — indi- 
cates clearly  enough  that  the  background  of  the 
panels  was  gilded.  The  spots  where  the  white- 
wash has  dropped  off  seem  to  indicate  that  certain 
parts  of  the  design  were  painted  in  colors,  red  or 
blue  or  green,  on  the  gold  background.  The  multi- 
tude of  the  panels  clearly  reveals  a  purpose  to  mis- 
lead prying  eyes;  but,  if  we  are  inclined  to  doubt  it, 
the  concierge  of  the  chateau,  while  commending 
Catherine's  memory  to  the  execration  of  the  human 


IQS  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

race  of  the  present  day,  points  out  to  visitors,  at  the 
base  of  the  wainscoting,  on  a  level  with  the  floor,  a 
heavy  base-board,  which  can  be  lifted,  and  beneath 
which  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  springs  can  still 
be  seen.  By  pressing  a  spring  thus  concealed,  the 
queen  could  open  certain  of  the  panels  known  to  her 
alone,  behind  which,  in  the  wall,  there  is  an  oblong 
hiding-place  of  the  same  size  as  the  panel,  but  of  con- 
siderable depth.  Even  to-day  the  most  expert  eye 
would  find  it  difficult  to  decide  which  one  of  all  those 
panels  will  move  in  response  to  that  invisible  spring; 
and  when  the  eyes  were  bewildered  by  colors  and 
gilding  carefully  arranged  to  conceal  the  cracks,  one 
can  readily  believe  that  it  was  impossible  to  select 
one  or  two  panels  out  of  two  hundred. 

As  Mary  Stuart  put  her  hand  on  the  latch  of  the 
complicated  lock  of  this  closet,  the  Italian,  who  had 
had  time  to  convince  herself  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
Prince  de  Conde's  plans,  had  just  pressed  the  spring 
concealed  behind  the  base-board,  one  of  the  panels 
had  sunk  out  of  sight,  and  Catherine  was  turning  to 
take  the  papers  from  the  table,  intending  to  hide 
them,  and  then  to  look  to  the  safety  of  the  devoted 
emissary  who  brought  them.  Hearing  the  door  open, 
she  knew  that  Queen  Mary  alone  could  have  entered 
unannounced. 

"  You  are  lost,"  she  said  to  Christophe,  seeing 
that  she  had  not  time  to  put  the  papers  away  or  to 
close  the  panel  quickly  enough  to  prevent  the  dis- 
covery of  her  secret. 

Christophe  replied  with  a  sublime  glance. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  199 

"  Povero  mio!"  said  Catherine,  before  turning  to 
her  daughter-in-law. — "  Treason,  madame,  1  have 
them,"  she  cried.  "  Send  for  the  cardinal  and  the 
duke.  Do  not  let  this  man  leave  the  room!"  she 
added,  pointing  to  Christophe. 

In  an  instant  that  shrewd  woman  had  determined 
that  it  was  necessary  to  abandon  the  unfortunate 
youth;  she  could  not  hide  him,  it  was  impossible  to 
save  him.  Moreover,  a  week  earlier  there  would 
still  have  been  time;  but  the  Guises  had  known  the 
whole  conspiracy  since  that  morning,  they  un- 
doubtedly had  the  lists  which  she  held  in  her  hand, 
and  were  evidently  leading  the  reformers  into  a  trap. 
And  so,  although  she  was  delighted  to  have  dis- 
covered in  her  adversaries  the  spirit  she  hoped  to 
find  in  them,  policy  demanded  that,  as  the  spark 
had  failed  to  ignite,  she  should  claim  credit  for  that 
failure.  This  pitiless  decision  was  reached  in  the 
brief  moment  while  the  queen  was  opening  the  door. 
For  an  instant,  Mary  Stuart  said  not  a  word.  Her 
face  lost  its  gayety  and  assumed  the  piercing  ex- 
pression which  suspicion  gives  to  the  eyes  of  every 
man  or  woman,  and  which  in  her  case  was  made 
terrible  by  the  suddenness  of  the  contrast.  Her 
eyes-ranged  from  the  queen-mother  to  Christophe 
and  from  Christophe  to  the  queen-mother,  alive 
with  malevolent  suspicions.  Then  she  rang  a  bell 
which  was  answered  by  one  of  the  queen-mother's 
attendants. 

*'  Mademoiselle  de  Rouet,  send  hither  the  captain 
of  the  guard  who  is  on  duty,"  said  Mary  to  the 


200  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

maid  of  honor,  contrary  to  etiquette,  which  is  nec- 
essarily thrust  aside  on  such  occasions. 

While  the  young  queen  gave  this  order,  Catherine 
looked  earnestly  at  Christophe,  saying  to  him  by 
her  glance:  "  Courage!" — The  reformer  understood, 
and  replied  with  a  glance  which  signified:  "Sacrifice 
me  as  they  sacrifice  me!" — "  Rely  upon  me,"  Cath- 
erine rejoined  with  a  gesture.  Then,  as  her  daughter- 
in-law  turned,  she  became  absorbed  in  the  papers. 

"You  are  of  the  Reformed  religion?"  Mary  asked 
Christophe. 

"Yes,  madame,"  he  replied. 

"  I  was  not  mistaken,"  she  muttered,  detecting 
again  in  the  reformer's  eyes  that  same  glance, 
wherein  indifference  and  hatred  were  disguised  be- 
neath an  affectation  of  humility. 

Pardaillan  suddenly  appeared,  sent  by  the  Lorraine 
princes  and  the  king.  The  captain  for  whom  Mary 
Stuart  had  sent  followed  that  young  nobleman,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  devoted  Guisards. 

"  Go  and  say  to  the  king,  the  grand  master, 
and  the  cardinal  that  1  ask  them  to  come  hither,  and 
assure  them  that  I  should  not  take  this  liberty  had 
not  something  of  superior  importance  occurred.  Go, 
Pardaillan. — And  do  you,  Lewiston,  keep  close  watch 
upon  this  traitor  of  a  Huguenot,"  she  said  to  the  Scot 
in  her  mother-tongue,  pointing  to  Christophe. 

The  young  queen  and  the  queen-mother  did  not 
exchange  a  word  until  the  arrival  of  the  princes  and 
the  king.     It  was  a  terrible  moment. 

Mary  Stuart  had  disclosed  to  her  mother-in-law  in 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  20I 

its  fullest  extent  the  part  which  her  uncles  caused 
her  to  play;  her  habitual,  constant  distrust  had  made 
itself  manifest,  and  that  youthful  conscience  felt 
keenly  how  dishonoring  to  a  young  queen  that  part 
was.  Catherine,  for  her  part,  had  acted  as  she  had 
through  fear,  she  was  afraid  that  her  action  would 
be  understood,  and  she  trembled  for  her  future. 
Each  of  those  two  women,  the  one  shamefaced  and 
indignant,  the  other  overflowing  with  hatred,  but 
calm,  walked  to  the  window-recess  and  leaned 
against  the  wall,  one  at  the  right,  the  other  at  the 
left;  but  their  glances  were  so  eloquent  of  their 
feelings  that  they  averted  their  eyes,  and  resorting  to 
the  same  artifice,  gazed  through  the  window  at  the 
sky.  At  that  moment,  those  two  superior  women 
displayed  no  more  wit  than  the  most  commonplace 
of  mortals.  Perhaps  it  is  generally  thus  when 
human  beings  are  overwhelmed  by  circumstances. 
There  is  always  a  time  when  genius  itself  feels  its 
littleness  in  presence  of  great  disasters.  As  for 
Christophe,  he  was  like  a  man  who  is  falling  over  a 
precipice.  Lewiston,  the  Scottish  captain,  listened 
during  this  silence;  he  watched  the  furrier's  son  and 
the  two  queens  with  soldierly  curiosity.  The  en- 
trance of  the  young  king  and  his  two  uncles  put  an 
end  to  this  painful  situation.  The  cardinal  went 
straight  to  the  queen-mother. 

"  I  hold  all  the  threads  of  the  heretics'  conspiracy; 
they  sent  yonder  child  to  me  with  this  treaty  and 
these  other  documents,"  said  Catherine,  in  a  low 
voice. 


202  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

While  Catherine  was  conversing  with  the  cardinal, 
Queen  Mary  whispered  a  few  words  in  the  grand 
master's  ear. 

"  What  is  all  this  about?"  said  the  young  king, 
who  was  left  alone  amid  these  fiercely  clashing 
interests. 

*'  The  proofs  of  what  I  said  to  Your  Majesty  are 
not  slow  in  coming,'*  said  the  cardinal,  seizing  the 
papers. 

The  Due  de  Guise  took  his  brother  aside,  heedless 
of  the  fact  that  he  interrupted  him,  and  whispered : 

"  This  makes  me  lieutenant-general  without  oppo- 
sition." 

A  crafty  glance  was  the  cardinal's  only  reply;  it 
gave  his  brother  to  understand  that  he  had  already 
grasped  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  Cath- 
erine's false  position. 

"  Who  sent  you.?"  said  the  duke  to  Christophe. 

"  Chaudieu  the  minister,"  was  the  reply. 

"Young  man,  you  lie!"  said  the  soldier,  quickly, 
*'  it  was  the  Prince  de  Conde!" 

"The  Prince  de  Conde,  monseigneur?"  rejoined 
Christophe,  with  a  surprised  air ;  "I  never  met 
him.  I  am  from  the  Palais  de  Justice,  I  am  study- 
ing with  Monsieur  de  Thou,  1  am  his  secretary  and 
he  doesn't  know  that  I  am  of  the  religion.  I  yielded 
only  at  the  minister's  persistent  entreaty," 

"  Enough,"  said  the  cardinal.—"  Summon  Mon- 
sieur le  Robertet,"  he  said  to  Lewiston,  "for  this 
young  knave  is  craftier  than  many  old  politicians; 
he  has  deceived  my  brother,  and  myself,  too,  who 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  203 

would  have  given  him  the  sacrament  without  con- 
fession." 

"You  are  no  child,  morbleu I "  cried  the  duke, 
*'  and  we  will  treat  you  as  a  man." 

"  He  attempted  to  corrupt  your  august  mother," 
said  the  cardinal,  addressing  the  king,  and  trying  to 
lead  him  aside  in  order  to  bring  him  around  to  his 
cunning  designs. 

"  Alas!"  rejoined  the  queen,  assuming  a  reproach- 
ful expression,  and  detaining  her  son  as  the  cardinal 
was  leading  him  into  the  oratory  to  subject  him  to 
his  perilous  eloquence;  "you  see  the  result  of  my 
present  situation;  I  am  naturally  supposed  to  be  irri- 
tated because  I,  the  mother  of  four  princes  of  the 
House  of  Valois,  have  so  little  influence  in  public 
affairs." 

The  young  king  became  attentive;  Mary  Stuart, 
seeing  that  his  brow  contracted,  took  his  arm  and 
led  him  into  the  window  recess,  where  she  cajoled 
him  with  soft  words  spoken  in  an  undertone,  and 
doubtless  of  the  same  nature  as  those  she  had  said  to 
him  just  before  when  they  rose.  The  two  brothers 
seized  the  opportunity  to  read  the  papers  handed 
them  by  Queen  Catherine.  Finding  therein  intel- 
ligen  .e  of  which  their  spies  and  Monsieur  de  Brague- 
lonne,  the  lieutenant  criminal  of  the  ChMelet,  had 
no  knowledge,  they  were  inclined  to  believe  in 
Catherine  de'  Medici's  good  faith.  Robertet  came 
and  received  secret  orders  relative  to  Christophe. 
The  youthful  instrument  of  the  leaders  of  the  Refor- 
mation was  thereupon  taken  away  by  four  of  the 


204  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Scottish  Guards  who  led  him  downstairs  and  deliv- 
ered him  to  Monsieur  de  Montresor,  provost  of  the 
chateau.  That  redoubtable  official  in  person,  at- 
tended by  five  of  his  sergeants,  conducted  Chris- 
tophe  to  the  prison  of  the  chateau  in  the  vaulted 
cellars  of  the  tower  now  in  ruins,  which  the  con- 
cierge of  the  chateau  of  Blois  points  out  to  visitors 
to-day  with  the  remark  that  the  dungeons  used  to 
be  there. 

After  such  an  episode,  the  council  could  be  noth- 
ing more  than  a  mere  formal  affair;  the  king,  the 
young  queen,  the  grand  master,  and  the  Cardinal 
de  Lorraine  returned  to  the  council-chamber,  accom- 
panied by  the  vanquished  Catherine,  who  did  not 
speak  except  to  assent  to  the  measures  recom- 
mended by  the  Lorraines.  Notwithstanding  the 
faint  opposition  of  the  Chancellor  Olivier,  the  only 
person  who  uttered  a  word  suggestive  of  the  inde- 
pendence necessary  for  the  proper  discharge  of  his 
functions,  the  Due  de  Guise  was  appointed  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom.  Robertet  produced 
the  necessary  documents  with  a  promptitude  indic- 
ative of  a  slavish  devotion  which  might  be  called 
complicity. 

The  king,  offering  his  arm  to  his  mother,  once 
more  passed  through  the  saUe  des  gardes,  informing 
the  court  that  he  proposed  to  go  to  the  chateau  of 
Amboise  on  the  following  day.  That  royal  resi- 
dence had  been  abandoned  since  Charles  VIII.  acci- 
dentally killed  himself  there  by  running  against  the 
frame  of  a  door  that  was  being  carved,  thinking  that 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  205 

he  could  pass  under  the  scaffolding  without  stooping. 
Catherine,  to  conceal  the  projects  of  the  Guises, 
said  that  it  was  her  purpose  to  finish  the  chateau 
of  Amboise  for  the  Crown  while  her  own  chateau  of 
Chenonceaux  was  being  finished.  But  no  one  was 
deceived  by  that  pretext,  and  the  court  anticipated 
momentous  events. 


After  he  had  passed  about  two  hours  endeavoring 
to  distinguish  his  surroundings  in  the  darkness  of 
his  dungeon,  Christophe  finally  discovered  that  there 
was  a  wooden  sheathing,  rough  in  quality  but  thick 
enough  to  make  the  little  square  cage  healthy  and 
habitable.  The  door  was  like  the  entrance  to  a  pig- 
pen, and  he  had  had  to  bend  double  when  he  went 
in.  Beside  the  door  was  an  iron  grating  opening  on 
a  sort  of  corridor,  through  which  there  came  a  little 
air  and  light.  This  arrangement  of  the  dungeon,  in 
every  respect  like  that  of  the  dungeons  of  Venice, 
showed  clearly  enough  that  the  architect  of  the  cha- 
teau of  Blois  belonged  to  that  Venetian  school  which 
gave  so  many  builders  to  Europe  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  Upon  feeling  the  walls  above  the  sheathing, 
Christophe  discovered  that  those  which  separated 
it  from  two  similar  dungeons  on  the  right  and  left 
were  of  brick.  As  he  tapped  one  of  them  to  obtain 
an  idea  of  its  thickness,  he  was  surprised  to  hear 
tapping  on  the  other  side. 

"Who  are  you?"  his  neighbor  asked,  speaking 
through  the  corridor. 

"I  am  Christophe  Lecamus." 

*'  I  am  Captain  Chaudieu,  the  minister's  brother,*' 
said  the  voice.     "  I  was  taken  last  night  at  Beau- 
gency;  but  luckily  there  is  nothing  against  me." 
(207) 


208  CATHERINE   DE*  MEDICI 

**  Everything  is  discovered,"  said  Ciiristophe. 
"So  you  are  safely  out  of  the  trouble." 

"  We  have  three  thousand  men  in  the  forests  of 
the  Vendomois  at  this  moment,  all  of  them  of  suf- 
ficient courage  and  determination  to  kidnap  the  king 
and  queen-mother  during  their  journey.  Luckily, 
La  Renaudie  was  shrewder  than  I,  and  he  escaped. 
You  had  just  left  us  when  the  Guisards  captured 
us." 

"  But  1  don't  know  La  Renaudie." 
**  Bah!  my  brother  told  me  the  whole  story." 
Upon  that,  Christophe  sat  down  on  his  bench  and 
made  no  reply  to  anything  that  the  pretended  cap- 
tain chose  to  ask  him,  for  he  had  had  enough  ex- 
perience of  the  law  to  know  how  prudent  a  man 
must  be  in  prison.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  he 
saw  the  pale  gleam  of  a  lantern  in  the  corridor,  after 
hearing  the  groaning  of  the  great  bolts  which  secured 
the  iron  door  of  the  vaults.  The  provost  came  him- 
self to  fetch  Christophe.  Such  solicitude  for  a  man 
who  had  been  left  without  food  in  his  dungeon 
seemed  strange  to  the  young  man;  but  the  confusion 
caused  by  the  preparations  for  transferring  the  court 
to  Amboise  had,  doubtless,  prevented  their  thinking 
of  him.  One  of  the  provost's  sergeants  bound  his 
hands  with  a  rope,  and  led  him  by  that  rope  to  one 
of  the  lower  rooms  in  the  chateau  of  Louis  XIL, 
which  was  evidently  used  as  an  antechamber  to 
the  apartments  of  some  person  of  consequence. 
The  provost  and  the  sergeant  bade  him  sit  upon  a 
bench,  and  the  sergeant  bound  his  feet  as  he  had 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  209 

bound  his   hands.     At  a  signal   from  Monsieur  de 
Montresor,  the  sergeant  went  out. 

"  Hark  ye,  my  friend,"  said  the  provost  to  Chris- 
tophe,  playing  with  the  collar  of  the  Order,  for  he 
was  in  full  official  costume  at  that  late  hour. 

This  trifling  circumstance  gave  the  furrier's  son 
much  food  for  thought.  He  saw  plainly  that  they 
had  not  done  with  him.  Certainly  there  was  no 
thought  of  hanging  him  or  trying  him  at  that  mo- 
ment. 

"  My  friend,  you  can  save  yourself  cruel  suffering 
by  telling  me  all  that  you  know  of  the  negotiations 
between  Monsieur  le  Prince  de  Conde  and  Queen 
Catherine.  Not  only  will  no  harm  be  done  you, 
but  you  will  be  taken  into  the  service  of  the  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom,  who  likes  intelligent 
fellows  like  you,  and  on  whom  your  honest  face  has 
produced  a  deep  impression.  The  queen-mother  will 
be  sent  back  to  Florence,  and  Monsieur  de  Conde 
will  undoubtedly  be  put  on  trial.  Take  my  word 
for  it,  the  humble  ought  to  attach  themselves  to  the 
great  who  have  the  power.  Tell  me  everything,  you 
will  find  it  to  your  advantage." 

"Alas!  monsieur,"  replied  Christophe,  "I  have 
nothing  to  tell;  I  confessed  all  that  I  know  to  Mes- 
sieurs de  Guise  in  the  queen's  chamber.  Chaudieu 
persuaded  me  to  lay  some  papers  before  the  queen- 
mother,  making  me  believe  that  the  peace  of  the 
kingdom  depended  upon  it." 

"  You  have  never  seen  the  Prince  de  Conde.?" 

"Never,"  said  Christophe. 
14 


2IO  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Thereupon  Monsieur  de  Montresor  left  Christophe 
and  went  into  an  adjoining  room.  Christophe  did 
not  remain  long  alone.  The  door  through  Which  he 
had  come  soon  opened  and  gave  passage  to  several 
men  who  did  not  close  it,  but  went  in  and  out,  mak- 
ing noises  in  the  courtyard  that  were  far  from  divert- 
ing. They  brought  pieces  of  wood  and  machines 
evidently  intended  for  the  torture  of  the  Huguenots' 
envoy.  Christophe's  curiosity  soon  found  ample 
material  for  reflection  in  the  preparations  which  the 
new-comers  made  before  his  eyes.  Two  coarse, 
poorly-clad  assistants  obeyed  the  orders  of  a  power- 
ful, thick-set  man  who,  immediately  on  entering  the 
room,  had  cast  upon  Christophe  the  glance  with 
which  the  cannibal  eyes  his  victim;  he  had  looked 
him  over,  appraised  him,  estimated  like  a  connoisseur 
the  strength  and  resisting  power  of  his  nerves.  That 
man  was  the  executioner  of  Blois.  His  assistants 
went  in  and  out  several  times,  bringing  a  mattress, 
mallets,  wooden  wedges,  boards,  and  other  objects 
whose  use,  although  not  clearly  apparent,  did  not 
seem  likely  to  be  comforting  to  the  poor  boy  for 
whom  these  preparations  were  being  made,  and 
whose  blood  froze  in  his  veins  as  the  result  of  a 
horrible  although  ill-defined  apprehension.  Two 
other  individuals  entered  at  the  same  moment  that 
Monsieur  de  Montresor  returned  to  the  room. 

"  Well,  is  nothing  ready.?"  said  the  provost,  whom 
the  new-comers  saluted  with  respect. — **  Do  you 
know,"  he  added,  addressing  the  stout  man  and 
his  two  assistants,  "that  monseigneur  le  cardinal 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  211 

believes  you  to  be  already  at  work? — Doctor,"  he 
continued,  turning  to  one  of  the  new-comers,  '*  this 
is  your  man." 

And  he  pointed  to  Christophe. 

The  doctor  went  to  the  prisoner,  unbound  his 
hands,  and  pounded  him  on  the  chest  and  back. 
Science  supplemented  in  all  seriousness  the  execu- 
tioner's cursory  examination.  Meanwhile,  a  servant 
in  the  livery  of  the  Guises  brought  several  armchairs, 
a  table,  and  writing  materials. 

"  Begin  your  report,"  said  Monsieur  de  Montr esor, 
motioning  to  the  second  person,  a  clerk  dressed  in 
black,  to  take  his  seat  at  the  table. 

Then  he  returned  and  stood  beside  Christophe,  to 
whom  he  said,  very  gently: 

"  My  friend,  the  chancellor  having  been  informed 
that  you  refuse  to  answer  my  questions  satisfactorily, 
has  determined  that  you  be  put  to  the  question  ordi- 
nary and  extraordinary." 

"Is  he  in  good  health,  and  can  he  bear  it?"  the 
clerk  asked  the  physician. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  latter,  who  was  one  of  the 
physicians  of  the  House  of  Lorraine. 

"  Very  well;  withdraw  to  the  adjoining  room;  we 
will  send  for  you  whenever  it  may  be  necessary  to 
consult  you." 

The  physician  left  the  room. 

His  first  terror  passed,  Christophe  summoned  his 
courage  anew:  the  hour  of  his  martyrdom  had  come. 
Thenceforth  he  watched  with  unmoved  curiosity 
the  arrangements  made  by  the  executioner  and  his 


212  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

assistants.  Having  hastily  prepared  a  bed,  the  two 
latter  made  ready  for  use  machines  called  brodequins, 
consisting  of  several  planks  between  two  of  which 
each  of  the  victim's  legs  was  placed,  and  he  was 
held  within  small  mattresses.  The  legs  were  then 
placed  close  together.  The  apparatus  used  by  book- 
binders to  press  volumes  between  two  boards  put  to- 
gether by  cords  gives  a  very  accurate  idea  of  the  way 
in  which  each  of  the  victim's  legs  was  arranged.  One 
can  readily  imagine  the  effect  produced  by  driving  a 
wedge  with  a  mallet  between  the  two  appliances  in 
which  the  legs  were  held  fast,  and  which  were  them- 
selves bound  together  by  stout  cords,  so  that  they  did 
not  give.  The  wedges  were  driven  in  at  the  knees 
and  ankles,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  splitting  a  log  of 
wood.  The  choice  of  those  two  spots,  where  there 
is  little  flesh  so  that  the  wedge  makes  room  for  itself 
at  the  expense  of  the  bones,  made  that  form  of  the 
question  horribly  painful.  In  the  ordinary  question, 
four  wedges  were  driven  in,  two  at  the  ankles  and 
two  at  the  knees;  but  in  the  extraordinary  question, 
as  many  as  eight  were  used,  provided  that  the 
physicians  considered  that  the  sufferer's  power  of 
feeling  was  not  exhausted.  At  that  period,  the 
brodequins  y^exe  also  applied  to  the  hands;  but,  being 
pressed  for  time,  the  cardinal,  lieutenant-general, 
and  chancellor  spared  Christophe  that  additional 
torture. 

The  report  was  begun,  the  provost  having  dictated 
a  few  sentences  as  he  walked  back  and  forth  with  a 
meditative  air,  asking  Christophe  his  various  names, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  21 3 

his  age,  and  his  profession;  then  he  asked  him  from 
whom  he  received  the  papers  he  had  handed  the 
queen. 

"  From  Chaudieu  the  minister,"  he  replied. 

"  Where  did  he  give  them  to  you?" 

"At  my  home  in  Paris." 

"  When  he  handed  them  to  you  he  must  have  told 
you  whether  the  queen-mother  would  be  pleased  to 
see  you." 

"  He  told  me  nothing  of  the  sort,"  replied  Chris- 
tophe.  "  He  simply  asked  me  to  hand  them  to 
Queen  Catherine  in  secret." 

*'  You  must  have  seen  Chaudieu  frequently,  for 
him  to  know  of  your  intended  journey?" 

'*  The  minister  did  not  learn  from  me  that  when 
I  brought  the  two  queens  their  furs  I  was  also 
to  ask  the  queen-mother  for  the  sum  she  owes 
my  father,  and  1  had  no  time  to  ask  him  how  he 
learned  it." 

"  But  these  papers,  which  were  handed  to  you 
without  seal  or  cover,  contained  a  proposed  treaty 
between  the  rebels  and  Queen  Catherine;  you  must 
have  seen  that  they  exposed  you  to  the  penalty 
awarded  those  persons  who  dabble  in  rebellion." 

"Yes." 

"  The  persons  who  persuaded  you  to  undertake 
this  act  of  high  treason  must  have  promised  you  a 
handsome  reward  and  the  queen-mother's  protec- 
tion." 

"  I  did  it  from  affection  for  Chaudieu,  the  only 
person  whom  I  saw." 


214  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

"  Do  you  persist,  then,  in  saying  that  you  never 
saw  the  Prince  de  Conde?" 

"I  do." 

"  Did  not  the  Prince  de  Conde  tell  you  that  the 
queen-mother  was  disposed  to  enter  into  his  designs 
against  Messieurs  de  Guise?" 

"  1  never  saw  him." 

**  Beware!  One  of  your  confederates,  La  Renau- 
die,  has  been  arrested.  Courageous  as  he  is,  he 
did  not  hold  out  against  the  torture  which  awaits 
you,  and  he  finally  confessed  that  both  he  and 
the  prince  had  an  interview  with  you.  If  you  wish 
to  escape  the  agony  of  the  question,  I  advise  you  to 
tell  the  simple  truth.  Perhaps  you  may  in  that  way 
obtain  a  pardon." 

Christophe  replied  that  he  could  not  assert  some- 
thing he  had  never  known,  nor  manufacture  accom- 
plices when  he  had  had  none.  Thereupon  the 
provost  gave  the  executioner  a  signal  and  withdrew 
to  the  adjoining  room.  At  that  signal,  the  wrinkles 
gathered  on  Christophe's  forehead,  his  eyebrows 
contracted  nervously,  preparing  for  the  suffering  to 
come.  His  hands  closed  with  such  a  violent  con- 
traction of  the  muscles  that  the  nails  sank  into  the 
flesh,  and  he  was  not  conscious  of  it.  The  three 
men  seized  him,  carried  him  to  the  camp-bed  and 
laid  him  on  it,  letting  his  legs  hang  down.  While  the 
executioner  fastened  his  body  to  that  rough  couch 
with  stout  cords,  each  of  his  assistants  placed  a  leg 
in  the  brodequins.  Then  the  cords  were  tightened 
with  a  crank,  but  without  causing  the  reformer  much 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  21 5 

pain.  When  both  legs  were  thus  confined  as  in  a 
vise,  the  executioner  grasped  his  mallet  and  his 
wedges  and  looked  from  the  victim  to  the  clerk. 

"  Do  you  persist  in  your  denial?"  asked  the  clerk. 

"  I  have  told  the  truth,"  was  Christophe's  reply. 

**  Very  well,  do  your  duty,"  said  the  clerk,  clos- 
ing his  eyes. 

The  cords  were  tightened  with  extreme  force. 
That  moment  was,  perhaps,  the  most  painful  of  the 
torture;  the  flesh  was  suddenly  and  brutally  com- 
pressed, and  the  blood  forced  upward  into  the  trunk. 
The  poor  child  could  not  refrain  from  uttering  horri- 
ble shrieks,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  swooning. 
The  doctor  was  called.  He  felt  Christophe's  pulse 
and  bade  the  executioner  to  wait  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  before  driving  the  wedges,  to  allow  time  for  the 
blood  to  become  calm  and  for  the  victim's  sensitive- 
ness to  be  entirely  restored.  The  clerk  charitably 
suggested  to  Christophe  that,  if  he  could  endure  no 
better  than  that  the  bare  beginning  of  the  agony 
which  he  could  not  escape,  it  would  be  much  wiser 
to  confess;  but  Christophe  replied  only  with  these 
words: 

"  The  king's  tailor!  the  king's  tailor!" 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that.?"  the  clerk  asked 
him. 

"  Realizing  what  torture  I  must  endure,"  said 
Christophe,  slowly,  to  gain  time  and  an  opportunity 
to  rest,  "  I  am  summoning  all  my  strength  and  trying 
to  increase  it  by  thinking  of  the  martyrdom  endured 
for  the  blessed  cause  of  the  Reformation  by  the  late 


2l6  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

king's  tailor,  to  whom  the  question  was  administered 
in  the  presence  of  Madame  la  Duchesse  de  Valen- 
tinois  and  the  king;  I  will  try  to  be  worthy  of  him!" 
While  the  doctor  was  urging  the  victim  not  to 
compel  a  resort  to  extraordinary  methods,  the  car- 
dinal and  the  duke  appeared,  being  impatient  to 
learn  the  result  of  the  examination,  and  appealed 
to  Christophe  to  tell  the  truth  forthwith.  The  furrier's 
son  repeated  the  only  admissions  which  he  allowed 
himself  to  make,  and  which  implicated  Chaudieu 
alone.  The  two  princes  made  a  signal.  At  that 
signal,  the  executioner  and  his  first  assistant  seized 
their  mallets,  each  took  a  wedge  and  buried  it  be- 
tween the  boards;  one  stood  at  the  right,  the  other 
at  the  left.  The  executioner  was  at  the  victim's 
knees,  his  assistant  at  the  ankles.  The  eyes  of 
the  witnesses  of  this  ghastly  scene  were  fixed  upon 
Christophe's,  who,  excited  doubtless  by  the  presence 
of  those  great  personages,  met  their  glances  with 
other  glances  so  inflamed  with  zeal  that  they  seemed 
to  glow  like  flame.  When  the  next  two  wedges  were 
driven  home,  he  uttered  a  horrible  groan.  When  he 
saw  them  take  up  the  wedges  for  the  extraordinary 
question,  he  held  his  peace,  but  his  glance  became 
so  fixed  and  glaring,  and  cast  a  flash  so  penetrating 
at  the  two  noblemen  who  were  watching  him,  that 
they  were  obliged  to  lower  their  eyes.  The  same 
discomfiture  was  experienced  by  Philippe  le  Bel 
when  he  caused  the  torture  of  the  lever  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  Templars  in  his  presence.  That  torture 
consisted  in  exposing  the  victim's  chest  to  the  blows 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  217 

of  one  arm  of  the  lever  which  worked  the  coiner's 
die,  and  which  was  provided  with  a  leather  pad. 
There  was  one  knight  whose  glance  was  fixed  so 
intently  upon  the  king,  that  he  was  fascinated  and 
could  not  remove  his  eyes  from  the  sufferer's.  At 
the  third  blow  of  the  lever  the  king  left  the  room, 
after  he  had  heard  his  own  summons  to  appear 
within  the  year  at  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  as  he 
actually  did. 

At  the  fifth  wedge,  the  first  of  the  extraordinary 
question,  Christophe  said  to  the  cardinal: 

"  Monseigneur,  pray  shorten  my  agony,  it  is  use- 
less." 

The  cardinal  and  the  duke  returned  to  the  adjoin- 
ing room,  and  Christophe  heard  Queen  Catherine 
say: 

"  Go  on,  go  on,  for  at  best  he  is  only  a  heretic!" 

She  deemed  it  prudent  to  appear  more  implacable 
than  the  executioners  themselves  against  her  accom- 
plice. 

The  sixth  and  seventh  wedges  were  driven  in  with- 
out a  murmur  from  Christophe;  his  face  shone  with 
extraordinary  radiance,  due,  doubtless,  to  the  super- 
human strength  imparted  by  thoroughly  kindled 
fanaticism.  Where  else  but  in  sentiment  could  he 
find  the  courage  necessary  to  endure  such  suffering.? 
When  the  executioner  took  up  the  eighth  wedge, 
Christophe  actually  smiled.  This  horrible  scene 
had  lasted  more  than  an  hour. 

The  clerk  went  to  call  the  doctor,  to  ascertain  if  the 
eighth  wedge  could  be  driven  without  endangering 


2l8  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  patient's  life.  Meanwhile  the  duke  returned  to 
Christophe. 

^*Ventre-de-hichel  you're  a  plucky  fellow,"  he 
said  in  his  ear.  "  I  like  brave  men.  Enter  my 
service;  you  shall  be  rich  and  happy,  and  my  favor 
will  cure  your  mangled  limbs;  1  will  not  ask  you  to 
do  any  dastardly  thing,  like  going  back  to  your 
party  in  order  to  divulge  their  plans  to  us;  there 
are  always  traitors,  the  prisons  of  Blois  afford  proof 
enough  of  that;  simply  tell  me  on  what  terms  the 
queen-mother  and  the  Prince  de  Conde  are." 

"I  know  nothing  about  it,  monseigneur,"  replied 
Lecamus. 

The  physician  came,  examined  the  victim,  and 
said  that  he  could  endure  the  eighth  wedge. 

"Drive  it  home,"  said  the  cardinal.  "After  all, 
as  the  queen  says,  he  is  only  a  heretic,"  he  added, 
bestowing  a  frightful  smile  upon  Christophe. 

Catherine  came  slowly  from  the  adjoining  room, 
stood  in  front  of  Christophe,  and  gazed  coldly  at 
him.  She  at  once  became  the  object  of  the  atten- 
tion of  the  two  brothers,  who  scrutinized  her  and 
her  accomplice  alternately.  That  ambitious  woman's 
whole  future  hung  upon  that  solemn  test;  she  felt  a 
keen  admiration  for  Christophe's  courage,  but  the 
glance  she  cast  upon  him  was  stern  and  harsh;  on 
the  other  hand,  she  hated  the  Guises,  yet  smiled 
upon  them. 

"  Come,  young  man,"  she  said,  "  admit  that  you 
have  seen  the  Prince  de  Conde,  and  you  will  be 
handsomely  rewarded." 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  219 

"Ah!  what  a  sorry  business  for  you  to  be  en- 
gaged in,  madame!"  exclaimed  Christophe,  in  a 
pitying  tone. 

The  queen  started. 

"  He  insults  me!  will  you  not  hang  him?"  she 
said  to  the  two  brothers,  who  seemed  absorbed  in 
thought. 

"  What  a  woman!"  said  the  grand  master  to  him- 
self, in  the  window  recess,  consulting  his  brother 
with  a  glance. 

"  I  will  remain  in  France,  and  I  will  be  revenged 
on  them,"  thought  the  queen. — "Proceed!  let  him 
confess,  or  let  him  die!"  she  exclaimed,  addressing 
Monsieur  de  Montresor. 

The  provost  looked  away  and  the  executioners 
were  occupied,  so  that  Catherine  was  able  to  bestow 
upon  the  martyr  a  glance  which  was  seen  by  no 
other  person,  and  which  fell  upon  Christophe  like  a 
refreshing  dew.  The  great  queen's  eyes  seemed  to 
him  moist;  indeed,  two  tears  did  start  from  them, 
but  were  forced  back  and  instantly  dried.  The 
wedge  was  driven  in,  and  one  of  the  boards  be- 
tween which  it  was  driven,  broke.  Christophe 
emitted  a  fearful  shriek,  after  which  he  made  no 
sound,  but  displayed  a  radiant  face:  he  believed 
that  he  was  dying. 

"  Let  him  die.?" — ^the  cardinal  repeated  the  queen's 
last  words  with  an  ironical  intonation, — "  no,  indeed ! 
We  must  not  break  this  thread,"  he  said  to  the  pro- 
vost. 

The  duke  and  the  cardinal  consulted  in  undertones. 


220  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  What  shall  we  do  with  him?"  asked  the  execu- 
tioner, 

"Send  him  to  the  prison  at  Orleans,"  said  the 
duke;  "  but,  above  all  things,"  he  added,  addressing 
Monsieur  de  Montresor,  "do  not  hang  him  without 
an  order  from  me." 

The  excessively  delicate  sensibility  produced  in 
the  internal  organs  by  a  resistance  which  neces- 
sitated the  employment  of  all  the  force  possessed  by 
the  human  frame  existed  in  the  same  degree  in  all 
Christophe's  senses.  He  alone  heard  these  words, 
which  the  Due  de  Guise  whispered  in  the  cardinal's 
ear: 

"  I  do  not  abandon  the  idea  of  getting  at  the  truth 
through  this  young  knave." 

When  the  two  princes  had  left  the  room,  the 
executioners  released  their  victim's  legs,  taking  no 
precautions. 

"Did  anyone  ever  see  a  rascal  with  such  strength?" 
said  the  chief  to  his  assistants.  "  The  fellow  stood 
the  eighth  wedge;  he  ought  to  have  died,  and  I  lose  the 
worth  of  his  body." 

"  Release  me  without  hurting  me,  my  friends," 
said  poor  Christophe.  "  Some  day  I  will  reward 
you." 

"Come,  come,  show  some  humanity!"  exclaimed 
the  doctor.  "  Monseigneur  le  Due  esteems  this  young 
man  highly,  and  has  commended  him  to  me." 

"  I  am  going  to  Amboise  with  my  assistants," said 
the  executioner,  brutally.  "  Take  care  of  him  your- 
self.    Here  comes  the  jailer." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  221 

The  executioner  disappeared,  leaving  Christophe 
in  the  hands  of  the  honey-tongued  doctor,  who, 
assisted  by  the  young  man's  future  custodian,  car- 
ried him  to  a  bed,  brought  him  some  hot  soup,  fed 
him  with  it,  sat  beside  him,  felt  his  pulse,  and  talked 
consolingly  to  him. 

"You  will  not  die,"  he  said.  "You  must  feel 
great  inward  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  you  have 
done  your  duty.  The  queen  charged  me  to  look  to 
your  welfare,"  he  added,  in  a  low  voice. 

"The  queen  is  very  kind,"  said  Christophe, 
whose  intense  suffering  had  developed  in  him  ad- 
mirable clearness  of  vision,  and  who,  after  enduring 
such  agony,  did  not  propose  to  endanger  the  results 
of  his  devotion.  "  But  she  might  well  have  spared 
me  such  extreme  suffering  by  not  turning  me  over 
to  my  persecutors,  and  telling  them  herself  secrets 
of  which  I  know  nothing." 

Upon  hearing  that  reply,  the  doctor  took  his  cap 
and  cloak  and  left  Christophe,  concluding  that  he 
could  obtain  nothing  from  a  man  of  his  temper.  The 
jailer  of  Blois  ordered  four  men  to  place  the  poor 
child  on  a  stretcher  and  transport  him  to  the  prison 
of  the  town,  where  Christophe  fell  into  the  profound 
sleep  which  is  said  to  overtake  almost  all  mothers 
after  the  horrible  pains  of  childbirth. 


When  they  caused  the  court  to  change  its  quarters 
to  the  chateau  of  Amboise,  the  two  Lorraine  princes 
hoped  that  the  Prince  de  Conde,  for  whom  they  had 
laid  a  trap  by  inducing  the  king  to  order  him  to  come 
to  that  place,  would  refuse  to  obey.  As  a  vassal  of 
the  crown  and  a  prince  of  the  blood,  Conde  was 
bound  to  obey  the  king's  commands.  To  neglect  to 
go  to  Amboise  constituted  a  felony;  but,  if  he  went 
there,  he  placed  himself  at  the  mercy  of  the  crown. 
Now,  at  that  moment,  crown,  council,  court,  all  the 
elements  of  power  were  united  in  the  hands  of 
the  Due  de  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine.  At 
that  delicate  turn  of  affairs,  the  Prince  de  Conde  dis- 
played the  decision  and  cunning  which  made  him 
the  worthy  interpreter  of  the  plans  of  Jeanne  d'Al- 
bret  and  the  doughty  general  of  the  Huguenots. 
He  travelled  in  the  rear  of  the  conspirators  to  Ven- 
dome,  in  order  to  support  them  in  case  of  success. 
When  that  first  armed  uprising  was  brought  to  an 
end  by  the  brief  affray  in  which  the  flower  of  the 
nobles  who  had  been  led  astray  by  Calvin  lost  their 
lives,  the  prince,  with  an  escort  of  fifty  gentlemen, 
arrived  at  the  chateau  of  Amboise  on  the  day  follow- 
ing that  affair  which  the  shrewd  and  politic  Lorraines 
called  the  Tumult  of  Amboise.  Upon  learning  of  the 
prince's  arrival,  the  Lorraines  sent  the  Marechal  de 
Saint-Andre  to  meet  him,  attended  by  a  hundred 
(223) 


224  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

men-at-arms.  When  the  Gascon  and  his  escort 
reached  the  gate  of  the  chateau,  the  marshal  re- 
fused to  allow  the  gentlemen  in  attendance  on  the 
prince  to  enter. 

"  You  must  enter  alone,  monseigneur,"  said  Chan- 
cellor Olivier,  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  and  Birague, 
who  were  standing  outside  the  portcullis. 

"Why  so?" 

"  You  are  suspected  of  felony,"  replied  the  chan- 
cellor. 

The  prince,  seeing  that  his  escort  was  surrounded 
by  the  Due  de  Nemours,  replied  calmly: 

"  If  that  be  so,  I  will  enter  my  cousin's  chateau 
alone  and  prove  my  innocence." 

He  dismounted  and  talked  with  perfect  unconcern 
with  Birague,  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  Olivier,  and 
the  Due  de  Nemours,  whom  he  questioned  as  to  the 
details  of  the  tumult. 

**  Monseigneur,"  said  the  Due  de  Nemours,  "  the 
rebels  had  confederates  in  Amboise.  Captain  Lanoue 
had  admitted  men-at-arms,  who  opened  this  gate  to 
them,  of  which  they  made  themselves  masters,  and 
through  it  they  entered  the  town." 

"  That  is  to  say,  you  let  them  into  a  bag,"  re- 
joined the  prince,  glancing  at  Birague. 

"  If  they  had  been  seconded  by  the  attack  which 
Captain  Chaudieu,  brother  of  the  preacher  at  Paris, 
was  to  have  made  on  the  Bons-Hommes  Gate,  they 
would  have  succeeded,"  replied  the  Due  de  Ne- 
mours; **  but  the  Due  de  Guise  stationed  me  in 
such  a  way  that  Captain  Chaudieu  had  to  turn  my 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  225 

position  to  avoid  a  battle.  Instead  of  arriving  at 
night,  as  the  others  did,  the  rebel  didn't  come  until 
dawn,  when  the  king's  troops  were  destroying  the 
fellows  who  had  entered  the  town." 

"And  you  had  a  reserve  force  to  take  the  gate 
that  had  been  betrayed  to  them.'"* 

"  Monsieur  le  Marechal  de  Saint- Andre  was  there, 
with  five  hundred  men-at-arms." 

The  prince  praised  these  military  arrangements  in 
the  warmest  terms. 

"  In  order  to  have  made  his  preparations  as  he 
did,"  he  said,  "the  lieutenant-general  must  have 
known  the  secrets  of  the  reformers.  Those  fellows 
were  clearly  betrayed." 

The  prince  was  subjected  to  indignity  after  indig- 
nity; after  separating  him  from  his  friends  at  the 
gate  of  the  chateau,  the  cardinal  and  chancellor 
barred  his  path  when  he  walked  toward  the  stair- 
way leading  to  the  king's  apartments. 

"  We  are  instructed  by  the  king,  monseigneur,  to 
escort  you  to  your  apartments." 

"Am  I  a  prisoner,  pray.?" 

"  If  such  were  the  king's  purpose,  you  would  not 
be  attended  by  a  prince  of  the  Church  and  by  my- 
self," said  the  chancellor. 

Those  two  functionaries  escorted  him  to  a  suite  of 
apartments  where  guards  were  sent  to  attend  upon 
him,  ostensibly  as  a  mark  of  honor,  and  where  he 
remained  for  several  hours  without  seeing  anybody. 
From  his  window  he  looked  out  upon  the  Loire  and 
the  fields  which  form  such  a  lovely  landscape  from 
15 


226  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Amboise  to  Tours;  and  he  was  musing  over  his  sit- 
uation, wondering  what  the  Lorraines  would  dare 
to  undertake  against  his  person,  when  he  heard 
the  door  of  his  chamber  open,  and  Chicot,  the 
king's  jester,  who  had  formerly  belonged  to  him, 
made  his  appearance. 

"  I  heard  that  you  were  in  disgrace,"  said  the 
prince. 

**  You  would  not  believe  how  virtuous  the  court 
has  become  since  the  death  of  King  Henri  II." 

"  Why,  the  king  should  be  fond  of  a  hearty 
laugh." 

*'  Which  king.?  Francois  II.  or  Francois  de  Lor- 
raine?" 

"Aren't  you  afraid  of  the  duke,  that  you  dare  to 
speak  so?" 

"  He  won't  punish  me  for  that,  monseigneur," 
Chicot  replied,  with  a  smile. 

"And  to  what  do  I  owe  the  honor  of  this  visit?" 

"  Why,  aren't  you  entitled  to  it,  judging  from  the 
manner  of  your  arrival?  I  bring  you  my  cap  and 
bells." 

"Am  I  not  at  liberty  to  go  hence?" 

"Try  it!" 

"And  if  I  succeed?" 

"  I  will  say  that  you  have  won  the  game  by  play- 
ing contrary  to  the  rule." 

"  Chicot,  you  frighten  me.  Are  you  sent  to  me 
by  anyone  who  is  interested  in  my  welfare?" 

Chicot  said  "  yes  "  with  a  movement  of  his  head. 
He  walked  toward  him  and  gave  him  to  understand 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  227 

that  somebody  was  watching  them  and  listening  to 
them. 

"What  have  you  to  say  to  me?"  inquired  the 
prince. 

"  That  audacity  alone  can  extricate  you  from  this 
fix,  and  that  message  is  from  the  queen-mother," 
said  the  jester,  breathing  his  words  into  the  prince's 
ear. 

"  Say  to  those  who  sent  you,"  replied  the  prince, 
"  that  1  should  not  have  come  to  this  chateau,  if  I 
had  had  aught  to  fear  or  to  reproach  myself  for." 

"  I  hasten  to  report  that  brave  reply!"  cried  the 
jester. 

Two  hours  later,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
before  the  king's  dinner,  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon 
and  the  chancellor  came  to  fetch  the  prince  and 
present  him  to  Frangois  11.  in  the  great  hall  where 
the  council  had  been  held.  There,  before  the  noble 
court,  the  Prince  de  Conde  feigned  surprise  at  the 
marked  coldness  of  the  young  king's  greeting  and 
asked  its  cause. 

"  You  have  been  charged,  cousin,"  said  the  queen- 
mother,  sternly,  "  with  having  had  a  hand  in  the 
conspiracy  of  the  reformers,  and  you  must  show 
yourself  a  loyal  subject  and  good  Catholic,  if  you  do 
not  wish  to  draw  down  the  king's  wrath  upon  your 
family." 

When  he  heard  these  words,  uttered  amid  the 
most  profound  silence  by  Catherine,  who  held  the 
arm  of  the  king,  her  son,  while  the  Due  d'Orleans 
stood  at  her  left,  the  prince  stepped  back,  with  a 


228  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

movement  instinct  with  pride,  placed  his  hand  on  his 
sword,  and  looked  about  at  all  the  persons  who  sur- 
rounded him. 

"Whoever  said  that,  madame,"  he  exclaimed  in 
an  indignant  tone,  "lied  in  his  throat !" 

He  threw  his  glove  at  the  king's  feet. 

"  Let  the  man  who  chooses  to  maintain  that  false- 
hood come  forth!" 

A  thrill  of  excitement  ran  through  the  whole  court 
when  the  Due  de  Guise  was  seen  to  leave  his  place; 
but,  instead  of  picking  up  the  glove,  as  everybody 
supposed  he  would  do,  he  walked  up  to  the  fearless 
hunchback. 

"  If  you  require  a  second,  prince,  do  me  the  honor 
to  accept  my  services,"  he  said.  "  I  will  answer 
for  you,  and  you  shall  show  the  Huguenots  how 
mistaken  they  are  if  they  think  of  taking  you  for 
their  leader." 

The  prince  was  compelled  to  offer  his  hand  to 
the  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom.  Chicot 
picked  up  the  glove  and  handed  it  to  Monsieur  de 
Conde. 

"Cousin,"  said  the  young  king,  "you  must  not 
draw  the  sword  except  in  defence  of  the  crown ; 
come  to  dinner." 

The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  surprised  by  his 
brother's  manoeuvre,  went  with  him  to  his  apart- 
ments. The  Prince  de  Conde  having  escaped  the 
most  serious  danger  that  threatened  him,  gave  his 
hand  to  Queen  Mary  Stuart  to  escort  her  to  the 
dining-hall ;  but,  while  he  was  paying  compliments 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  229 

to  the  young  queen,  he  tried  to  divine  what  trap  the 
politic  Le  Balafre  was  setting  for  him  at  that  mo- 
ment. In  vain  did  the  prince  cudgel  his  brains,  he 
did  not  guess  the  duke's  scheme  until  Queen  Mary- 
revealed  it  to  him. 

"  It  would  have  been  a  pity,"  she  said,  with  a 
laugh,  **  to  see  so  clever  a  head  fall,  and  you  must 
admit  that  my  uncle  is  generous!" 

"Yes,  madame,  for  my  head  would  not  look  well 
anywhere  else  than  on  my  shoulders,  although  one 
of  them  is  perceptibly  higher  than  the  other.  But 
is  it  generosity  on  your  uncle's  part?  Has  he  not 
obtained  credit  for  that  sentiment  at  small  expense? 
Do  you  fancy  that  it  is  such  a  simple  matter  to 
prosecute  a  prince  of  the  blood?" 

"  The  end  is  not  yet,"  she  rejoined.  "  We  shall 
see  how  you  behave  at  the  execution  of  the  gentle- 
men prisoners,  who  are  friends  of  yours,  which 
the  council  has  decided  shall  be  carried  out  with  the 
greatest  publicity." 

"  I  will  do,"  said  the  prince,  **  whatever  the  king 
does." 

"The  king,  the  queen-mother,  and  myself  pro- 
pose to  be  present  with  the  whole  court  and  the 
ambassadors — " 

"A  fete?"  queried  the  prince,  ironically. 

"Better  than  that,"  said  the  young  queen,  "an 
act  of  faith,  an  act  of  high  political  significance.  It 
is  a  question  of  forcing  the  nobles  of  France  to 
submit  to  the  crown  and  of  destroying  their  liking 
for  factious  opposition  and  intriguing." 


230  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

**  You  will  not  abate  their  bellicose  spirit  by  show- 
ing them  that  they  incur  such  risks,  madame,  and 
you  stake  the  crown  itself  in  the  game,"  replied  the 
prince. 

At  the  close  of  the  dinner,  which  was  gloomy 
enough.  Queen  Mary  had  the  deplorable  hardihood 
to  lead  the  conversation  to  the  trial  then  in  progress 
of  the  noblemen  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
and  to  recur  to  the  necessity  of  making  the  greatest 
possible  display  at  their  execution. 

"  Madame,"  said  Francois  II.,  "  is  it  not  enough 
for  the  King  of  France  to  know  that  the  blood  of  so 
many  excellent  gentlemen  is  to  be  shed?  must  we 
make  a  triumphal  show  of  them.?" 

"  No,  sire,  but  an  example,"  said  Catherine. 

"  Your  grandfather  and  your  father  were  accus- 
tomed to  witness  the  burning  of  heretics,"  said 
Mary  Stuart. 

"  The  kings  who  reigned  before  me  did  as  they 
chose,  and  I  propose  to  do  as  I  choose,"  rejoined  the 
king. 

"Philip  II.,  who  certainly  is  a  great  monarch," 
observed  Catherine,  "  being  recently  in  the  Low 
Countries,  caused  an  auto-da-fe  to  be  postponed 
until  he  had  returned  to  Valladolid." 

"  What  do  you  think  about  it,  cousin?"  the  king 
asked  the  Prince  de  Conde. 

*'  If  you  cannot  avoid  being  present,  sire,  you 
must  have  the  papal  nuncio  there  and  the  ambas- 
sadors. I  will  willingly  go  myself,  since  I  know  that 
the  ladies  are  to  attend  the  f^te." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  23I 

The  Prince  de  Conde  had  resolved  upon  a  bold 
course  at  a  glance  from  Catherine  de' Medici. 

About  the  time  that  the  prince  reached  the  cha- 
teau of  Amboise,  the  furrier  to  the  two  queens  also 
arrived  from  Paris,  brought  thither  by  the  anxiety 
which  the  circumstances  of  the  tumult  had  aroused 
in  his  family  and  Lallier's.  When  the  old  man  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  gate  of  the  chateau,  and  an- 
nounced that  he  was  the  queen's  furrier,  the  captain 
said  to  him: 

"  If  you  want  to  be  hanged,  my  good  man,  you 
have  only  to  step  foot  in  the  courtyard." 

At  those  words,  the  father,  in  despair,  seated  him- 
self on  a  barrier  a  few  yards  away,  and  waited,  in 
the  hope  that  some  retainer  of  one  of  the  two  queens 
would  pass,  or  some  female  attendant,  who  could 
give  him  news  of  his  son.  But  he  sat  there  all  day 
long  without  seeing  a  person  whom  he  knew;  and 
was  compelled  at  last  to  go  down  into  the  town, 
where  he  obtained  lodgings,  not  without  difficulty,  in 
a  tavern  on  the  square  where  public  executions  took 
place.  He  was  obliged  to  pay  a  livre  per  day  for  a 
room  looking  on  the  square.  The  next  day  he  had 
the  courage  to  witness,  from  his  window,  the  execu- 
tion of  the  abettors  of  the  uprising,  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  be  broken  on  the  wheel  or  hanged,  as 
persons  of  small  consequence.  The  syndic  of  the 
guild  of  furriers  was  overjoyed  not  to  recognize  his 
son  among  them.  When  the  execution  was  at  an 
end,  he  went  out  to  waylay  the  clerk.  After  he  had 
given  his  name  and  thrust  a  purse  filled  with  crowns 


232  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

into  the  man's  hand,  he  begged  him  to  look  and  see 
if  one  Christophe  Lecamus  had  been  included  in 
either  of  the  three  preceding  executions.  The  clerk 
was  touched  by  the  despairing  father's  tone  and 
manner,  and  took  him  to  his  house.  After  a  careful 
examination,  he  assured  the  old  man  that  the  said 
Christophe  was  not  among  those  who  had  thereto- 
fore been  executed,  nor  among  those  who  were  to 
be  put  to  death  on  the  following  days. 

"My  dear  master,"  he  said  to  the  syndic,  "the 
Parliament  has  undertaken  the  prosecution  of  the 
noblemen  implicated  in  the  affair  and  of  the  prin- 
cipal leaders.  So  perhaps  your  son  is  detained  in 
the  dungeons  at  the  chateau,  and  will  figure  in  the 
magnificent  execution  their  lordships  the  Due  de 
Guise  and  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  have  in  preparation. 
Twenty-seven  barons,  eleven  counts,  and  seven 
marquises  are  to  be  beheaded, — in  all,  fifty  noble- 
men or  leaders  of  the  reformers.  As  the  courts 
of  the  comte  of  Touraine  have  no  connection  with 
the  Parliament  of  Paris,  if  you  are  determined  to 
have  news  of  your  son,  go  to  see  Monseigneur  le 
Chancelier  Olivier,  who,  by  order  of  the  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  kingdom,  has  the  management  of  the 
prosecution." 

The  poor  old  man  went  three  times  to  see  the 
chancellor,  and  stood  in  line  in  the  courtyard  in 
company  with  a  great  number  of  persons  who  were 
soliciting  mercy  for  their  kindred;  but  as  titled  per- 
sons took  precedence  of  bourgeois,  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  his  purpose  of  speaking  to  the  chancellor. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  233 

whom  he  saw  several  times  leaving  his  house  to  go 
to  the  chateau,  or  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  Parliament,  and  passing 
through  long  lines  of  petitioners  whom  the  guards 
compelled  to  stand  back  to  give  him  room  to  pass. 
It  was  a  horrible  scene  of  desolation,  for  there 
were  women  among  the  petitioners,  mothers  and 
daughters,  whole  families  in  tears.  Old  Lecamus 
squandered  a  great  deal  of  money  on  the  servants 
of  the  chateau,  t)egging  them  to  deliver  letters  which 
he  wrote,  sometimes  to  Dayelle,  Queen  Mary's 
maid,  sometimes  to  the  queen-mother's  maid;  but 
the  servants  took  the  goodman's  gold,  and  deliv- 
ered the  letters  to  the  provost  of  the  chateau,  as  the 
cardinal  bade  them  do.  As  the  Guises  behaved  with 
incredible  cruelty,  they  had  every  reason  to  fear  acts 
of  revenge,  and  they  never  took  more  precautions- 
than  during  this  sojourn  of  the  court  at  Amboise,  so 
that  neither  the  most  potent  instrument  of  corrup- 
tion, gold,  nor  the  greatest  activity  brought  the 
syndic  of  the  furriers  any  information  concerning 
his  son's  fate.  He  wandered  about  the  town  with 
a  gloomy  air,  scrutinizing  the  preparations  which 
the  cardinal  was  making  on  a  vast  scale  for  the  ter- 
rible spectacle  at  which  the  Prince  de  Conde  was  to 
be  present. 

Public  curiosity,  from  Paris  to  Nantes,  was  stimu- 
lated by  the  methods  in  vogue  at  that  period.  The 
execution  had  been  announced  from  the  pulpit  by  all 
the  vicars  and  cures,  simultaneously  with  the  king's 
victory  over  the  heretics.    Three  handsome  tribunes. 


234  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  one  in  the  middle  being  more  sumptuous  than  the 
others,  were  built  against  the  wall  of  the  chateau 
of  Amboise,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  execution 
was  to  take  place.  Around  the  square  were  erected 
board  seats,  tier  above  tier,  which  were  filled  by 
an  enormous  crowd,  drawn  thither  by  the  pub- 
licity given  to  this  auto-da-fe.  About  ten  thousand 
persons  camped  in  the  surrounding  fields  on  the 
night  before  the  ghastly  spectacle  was  to  take  place. 
The  roofs  were  black  with  people,  and  windows  were 
let  for  ten  livres,  an  enormous  sum  in  those  days. 
The  poor  father  had,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the 
best  places  from  which  to  obtain  an  unobstructed 
view  of  the  stage  upon  which  so  many  noblemen 
were  to  perish,  and  in  the  centre  of  which  he  saw  a 
tall  scaffold  draped  with  black.  On  the  morning  of 
the  fatal  day,  the  chouquet — the  block  on  which  the 
victim  placed  his  head  after  he  had  knelt — was  put 
in  place;  then  an  armchair,  draped  in  black,  for 
the  clerk  of  the  Parliament,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  call  the  names  of  the  culprits  and  announce 
their  sentences.  The  enclosure  was  guarded  from 
early  morning  by  the  Scottish  Guards  and  by 
the  gendarmes  of  the  king's  household,  to  pre- 
vent the  crowd  from  overflowing  it  before  the 
execution. 

After  a  solemn  mass  at  the  chateau  and  in  the 
churches  of  the  town,  the  noblemen  were  brought 
forth,  the  last  remaining  conspirators.  These 
noblemen,  some  of  whom  had  already  undergone 
the  question,  were  assembled  at  the  foot  of  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  235 

scaffold  and  attended  by  monks  who  strove  to  per- 
suade them  to  renounce  the  doctrines  of  Calvin;  but 
not  one  of  them  listened  to  the  words  of  those  men 
who  were  sent  to  them  by  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine, 
and  among  whom  they  feared,  doubtless,  to  find  spies 
of  the  Lorraines.  In  order  to  escape  the  persecu- 
tions of  their  antagonists,  they  sang  a  psalm  put  into 
French  verse  by  Clement  Marot.  Calvin,  as  is  well 
known,  had  ordained  that  worship  should  be  con- 
ducted in  each  country  in  the  language  of  that  coun- 
try, not  only  as  a  matter  of  common  sense,  but  as  a 
method  of  assailing  the  Roman  worship.  It  was  an 
affecting  incident  to  those  in  the  crowd  who  had  a 
feeling  of  pity  for  those  gentlemen,  to  hear  them 
singing  this  stanza  just  as  the  court  arrived: 

"  Dieu  nous  soit  doux  et  favorable, 
Nous  benissant  par  sa  bonte, 
Et  de  son  visage  adorable 
Nous  fasse  luire  la  darte."* 

The  eyes  of  all  the  reformers  were  at  once  turned 
upon  their  leader,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  who  was 
designedly  placed  between  Queen  Mary  and  the  Due 
d'Orleans.  Queen  Catherine  de'  Medici  sat  next 
her  son,  with  the  cardinal  at  her  left.  The  papal 
nuncio  was  standing  behind  the  queens.  The  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom  was  on  horseback 
below  the  tribunes  with  two  marshals  of  France  and 

*  "  O  Lord  to  us  Thy  mercy  show, 
And  bless  us  with  Thy  grace, 
On  us  of  Thy  good  will  bestow 
The  radiance  of  Thy  face." 


236  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

his  captains.  When  the  Prince  de  Conde  appeared, 
all  of  the  gentlemen  to  be  decapitated  who  knew  him 
saluted  him,  and  the  fearless  hunchback  returned 
their  salutation. 

"  It  is  hard,"  he  said  to  the  Due  d'Orleans,  **  not 
to  be  courteous  to  men  who  are  about  to  die." 

The  other  two  tribunes  were  filled  by  persons  in- 
vited to  witness  the  spectacle,  and  by  the  courtiers 
and  persons  on  duty  at  the  court.  In  a  word,  the 
whole  population  of  the  chateau  of  Blois  was  present, 
passing  from  joyous  festivities  to  scenes  of  death, 
just  as  it  passed  later  from  the  pleasures  of  the 
court  to  the  perils  of  war,  with  a  lightness  of  heart 
that  will  always  be  to  foreigners  one  of  the  govern- 
ing considerations  of  their  policy  toward  France. 
The  unhappy  syndic  of  the  furriers  of  Paris  felt  the 
keenest  joy  when  he  saw  that  his  son  was  not  among 
the  fifty-seven  gentlemen  condemned  to  death. 

At  a  signal  from  the  Due  de  Guise,  the  clerk,  from 
his  place  on  the  scaffold,  at  once  called  out,  in  a  loud 
voice: 

"  Jean-Louis-Alberic,  Baron  de  Raunay,  convicted 
of  heresy,  of  the  crime  of  l^se-majeste,  and  of  an 
assault  with  arms  in  his  hand  upon  the  king's 
person." 

A  tall,  handsome  man  ascended  the  scaffold  with 
an  assured  step,  saluted  the  crowd  and  the  court, 
and  exclaimed: 

"  The  sentence  states  what  is  false;  I  took  up 
arms  to  deliver  the  king  from  his  enemies  the 
Lorraines!" 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  237 

He  placed  his  head  on  the  block  and  it  fell. 
The  reformers  sang: 

"  Dieu,  tu  nous  a  mis  a  I'epreuve 
Et  tu  nous  as  examines ; 
Comme  I'argent  que  I'on  epreuve, 
Par  feu  tu  nous  as  affines."* 

"  Robert- Jean-Rene  Briquemaut,  Comte  de  Ville- 
mongis,  convicted  of  the  crime  of  lese-majeste  and 
of  an  assault  upon  the  king's  person,"  called  the 
clerk. 

The  count  dipped  his  hands  in  Baron  du  Raunay's 
blood,  and  said: 

"  May  this  blood  fall  upon  the  real  culprits  \" 

The  reformers  sang: 

"  Tu  nous  as  fait  entrer  et  joindre 
Aux  pieges  de  nos  ennemis, 
Tu  nous  as  fait  les  reins  astreindre, 
Des  filets  ou  tu  nous  as  mis."t 

"You  must  agree,  monsieur  le  nonce,"  said  the 
Prince  de  Conde  to  the  nuncio,  "  that  if  French 
gentlemen  know  how  to  conspire,  they  also  know 
how  to  die." 

*"  Thou,  Lord,  hast  tried  us  more  and  more 
And  probed  our  least  desire ; 
As  finers  test  the  precious  ore, 
So  we  are  proved  by  fire." 

t "  Thy  hatid  has  led  our  feet,  O  Lord, 
Within  our  foes'  fell  snare, 
Our  loins  endure  the  toils'  harsh  cord, 
'Tis  Thou  hast  brought  us  there." 


238  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  What  detestation  you  are  drawing  on  the  heads 
of  our  children,  brother!"  said  the  Duchesse  de 
Guise  to  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine. 

"This  spectacle  makes  me  ill,"  said  the  young 
king,  who  had  turned  deathly  pale  at  the  sight  of  so 
much  bloodshed. 

"  Bah!  rebels!"  rejoined  Catherine  de'  Medici. 

They  could  still  hear  the  singing,  and  the  axe 
moved  constantly  through  the  air.  At  last,  that 
sublime  spectacle  of  men  going  to  their  death  sing- 
ing, and  above  all,  the  impression  produced  upon  the 
crowd  by  the  progressive  diminution  of  the  volume  of 
the  singing,  made  them  forget  for  a  moment  the  dread 
inspired  by  the  Guises. 

"Mercy!"  cried  the  people  in  one  voice,  when  they 
could  hear  the  feeble  tones  of  only  one  nobleman,  the 
most  considerable  of  them  all,  who  had  been  reserved 
for  the  last  stroke. 

He  was  alone  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  leading  to 
the  scaffold,  and  he  sang: 

"  Dieu  nous  soit  doux  et  favorable, 
Nous  benissant  par  sa  bonte, 
Et  de  son  visage  adorable 
Nous  fasse  luire  la  darte." 

"Come,  Due  de  Nemours,"  said  the  Prince  de 
Conde,  weary  of  the  part  he  was  playing,  "do  not 
you,  to  whom  we  owe  the  happy  result  of  the  affray, 
and  who  assisted  in  taking  these  men, — do  not  you 
deem  yourself  in  duty  bound  to  ask  mercy  for  this 
one?      It  is  Castelnau,  who,  as  I  am  told,  received 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  239 

your  word  that  he  should  be  treated  courteously  if 
he  surrendered." 

"Can  it  be  that  I  have  waited  until  he  was  on 
that  scaffold  before  trying  to  save  him?"  said  the 
Due  de  Nemours,  deeply  affected  by  that  stern  re- 
proof. 

The  clerk  called  slowly — purposely  so,  no  doubt: 

"  iWichel-Jean-Louis,  Baron  de  Castelnau-Cha- 
losse,  accused  and  convicted  of  the  crime  of  lese- 
majeste  and  of  an  assault  upon  the  king's  person." 

"  No,"  said  Castelnau,  proudly,  "it  cannot  be  a 
crime  to  oppose  the  tyranny  and  projected  usurpa- 
tion of  the  Guises!" 

The  tired  executioner  observing  a  commotion  in 
the  tribune,  busied  himself  adjusting  his  axe. 

"Monsieur  le  Baron,"  he  said,  "I  don't  wish  to 
make  you  suffer  too  much,  and  a  moment  more  may 
save  you." 

Again  all  the  people  cried  : 

"Mercy!" 

"So  be  it!"  said  the  king;  "mercy  to  poor 
Castelnau,  who  saved  the  life  of  the  Due  d'Or- 
leans." 

The  cardinal  intentionally  misunderstood  the  words 
so  be  it.  He  gave  the  executioner  a  signal,  so  that 
Castelnau's  head  fell  while  the  king  was  pardoning 
him. 

"  That  one  goes  to  your  account,  cardinal,"  said 
Catherine. 

On  the  day  following  that  horrible  slaughter,  the 
Prince  de  Conde  started  for  Navarre. 


240  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

The  affair  created  a  great  sensation  in  France 
and  at  ail  foreign  courts ;  but  tiie  torrents  of  noble 
blood  which  were  shed  on  that  occasion  caused  the 
Chancellor  Olivier  such  poignant  suffering,  that  that 
excellent  magistrate,  discerning  at  last  the  goal  to- 
ward which  the  Guises  were  tending  on  the  pretext 
of  defending  the  throne  and  the  religion,  did  not  feel 
strong  enough  to  hold  his  own  against  them.  Al- 
though he  was  their  creature,  he  did  not  choose  to 
sacrifice  both  his  duty  and  the  monarchy  to  them, 
so  he  withdrew  from  public  life,  commending  L'H6- 
pital  to  them  as  his  successor.  Catherine,  when  she 
heard  of  Olivier's  selection,  proposed  Birague  for 
chancellor  and  displayed  excessive  warmth  in  solicit- 
ing the  place  for  him.  The  cardinal,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  letter  written  by  L'HSpital  to  Cath- 
erine, and  who  believed  him  to  be  still  loyal  to  the 
House  of  Lorraine,  put  him  forward  as  Birague's 
competitor,  and  the  queen-mother  pretended  to  allow 
him  to  be  imposed  upon  her.  Immediately  upon 
assuming  the  office,  L'H6pital  took  measures  against 
the  importation  of  the  Inquisition  into  France, 
which  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  wished  to  effect,  and 
thwarted  so  effectually  all  the  anti-French  political 
manoeuvres  of  the  Guises,  he  showed  himself  such 
a  loyal  Frenchman,  that,  three  months  after  his  ap- 
pointment, they  were  obliged  to  exile  him  to  his 
estate  of  Vignay  near  Etampes,  in  order  to  humble 
him. 

Goodman  Lecamus  waited  impatiently  for  the  court 
to  leave  Amboise,  for  he  had  been  unable  to  find 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  241 

any  opportunity  to  speak  either  to  Queen  Mary  or 
to  Queen  Catherine,  and  his  purpose  was  to  station 
himself  in  the  path  of  the  court  when  they  returned 
along  the  river  bank  to  Blois.  The  syndic  disguised 
himself  as  a  beggar,  at  the  risk  of  being  taken  for  a 
spy,  and  under  cover  of  that  disguise  he  was  able 
to  go  among  the  unfortunate  creatures  who  lined  the 
road.  After  the  departure  of  the  Prince  de  Conde, 
the  duke  and  the  cardinal  believed  that  they  had  im- 
posed silence  on  the  Huguenots,  and  left  the  queen- 
mother  a  little  more  freedom.  Lecamus  knew  that 
Catherine,  instead  of  travelling  in  a  litter,  loved  to 
ride  a  la  planchette — such  was  the  name  then  given 
to  the  stirrup  invented  for  or  by  Catherine,  who  had 
once  injured  her  leg,  and  who  rode  with  both  feet 
resting  on  a  sort  of  pack-saddle  covered  with  velvet, 
sitting  sidewise  on  the  horse's  back  and  passing  one 
leg  through  a  notch  in  the  saddle.  As  the  queen 
had  very  shapely  legs,  she  was  accused  of  having 
invented  that  fashion  in  order  to  show  them. — Thus 
the  old  man  was  enabled  to  attract  Catherine  de' 
Medici's  attention;  but  as  soon  as  she  recognized 
him,  she  assumed  an  indignant  air. 

"  Off  with  you,  goodman,  and  let  no  one  see  you 
speaking  to  me,"  she  said  with  something  very  like 
anxiety.  "  Procure  your  own  election  as  deputy  to 
the  States-General  by  the  assemblage  of  guilds  of 
Paris,  and  be  on  my  side  in  the  session  at  Orleans; 
then  you  will  know  whom  to  rely  upon  in  respect  to 
your  son." 

*'  Is  he  still  living.'"'  asked  the  old  man. 
16 


242  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

**  Alas  !  I  hope  so,"  said  the  queen. 

Lecamus  was  obliged  to  return  to  Paris  with 
naught  but  those  unsatisfactory  words,  and  with  the 
secret  that  the  States-General  were  to  be  convoked, 
which  the  queen  had  just  divulged  to  him. 


Within  a  few  days  the  cardinal  had  obtained  evi- 
dence of  the  culpability  of  the  court  of  Navarre.  At 
Lyon,  at  Mouvans,  in  Dauphine,  some  Huguenots 
commanded  by  the  most  enterprising  prince  of  the 
House  of  Bourbon  had  tried  to  raise  the  people. 
Such  audacity,  after  the  bloody  executions  at  Am- 
boise,  astonished  the  Lorraine  princes,  who,  in  order 
to  have  done  with  the  heresy  by  means  which  they 
carefully  kept  secret,  proposed  to  convoke  the  States- 
General  at  Orleans.  Catherine  de'  Medici,  who  fan- 
cied that  she  saw  a  possible  prop  to  her  policy  in 
popular  representation,  joyfully  consented.  The  car- 
dinal, who  wished  to  seize  his  prey  once  more  and 
crush  the  House  of  Bourbon,  had  no  other  purpose  in 
convoking  the  States  than  to  secure  the  attendance 
of  the  Prince  de  Conde  and  the  King  of  Navarre, 
Antoine  de  Bourbon,  father  of  Henri  IV.;  and  he 
proposed  to  make  use  of  Christophe  to  convict  the 
prince  of  high  treason,  if  he  should  succeed  in  enti- 
cing him  into  the  king's  power. 

After  two  months  in  prison  at  Blois,  Christophe 
was  carried  one  morning  on  a  stretcher  to  a  boat, 
placed  on  a  bed,  and  taken  up  the  river  to  Orleans 
by  favor  of  a  westerly  wind.  He  arrived  during  the 
evening,  and  was  taken  to  the  celebrated  Saint- 
Aignan  Tower.  Having  no  means  of  knowing  what 
to  think  concerning  his  transfer,  he  could  devote  all 
(243) 


244  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

his  thoughts  to  his  conduct  and  his  future.  He  lay 
there  two  months  more  on  his  cot,  unable  to  move 
his  legs.  His  bones  were  broken.  When  he  asked 
for  the  services  of  a  surgeon  from  the  town,  the 
jailer  replied  that  his  orders  with  respect  to  him 
were  so  strict  that  he  could  not  even  allow  any  other 
person  to  bring  him  his  food.  This  severity,  the 
effect  of  which  was  to  keep  him  in  secret  confine- 
ment, surprised  Christophe;  according  to  his  ideas, 
he  should  either  be  hanged  or  released,  for  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  events  at  Amboise. 

Notwithstanding  the  urgent  advice  to  remain  at 
home  which  Catherine  de*  Medici  secretly  sent 
them,  the  two  Bourbon  princes  determined  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  States-General,  the  king's  auto- 
graph letters  had  given  them  such  a  sense  of  secu- 
rity; and  when  the  court  was  installed  at  Orleans, 
it  was  learned,  not  without  astonishment,  from 
Groslot,  Chancellor  of  Navarre,  that  the  princes  had 
arrived. 

Francois  II.  took  up  his  abode  in  the  palace  of  the 
Chancellor  of  Navarre,  who  was  also  Bailli  of  Or- 
leans. This  Groslot,  whose  double  office  is  one  of 
the  peculiar  features  of  a  period  when  Huguenots 
possessed  abbeys, — Groslot,  the  Jacques  Coeur  of 
Orleans,  and  one  of  the  wealthiest  bourgeois  of  that 
town,  did  not  leave  his  name  to  his  palace;  it  was 
afterward  called  the  bailliage,  for  it  was  undoubt- 
edly purchased  from  his  heirs  by  the  crown,  or  by 
the  provincial  government  as  a  home  for  that  tri- 
bunal.    That  charming  structure,  which  we  owe  to 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  245 

the  bourgeois  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  a  fitting 
complement  to  the  history  of  that  period,  when  king, 
nobility,  and  bourgeoise  contested  with  one  another 
the  palm  for  the  grace,  refinement,  and  richness  of 
their  dwellings — witness  Varangeville,  the  superb 
manor-house  of  Ango,  and  the  so-called  H6tel  d' Her- 
cules in  Paris,  which  is  still  standing  in  our  day,  but 
in  a  condition  to  drive  archaeologists  and  admirers  of 
the  Middle  Ages  to  despair.  It  is  difficult  to  go  to 
Orleans  without  noticing  the  h6tel  de  ville  on  Place 
de  I'Estape.  That  hotel  de  ville  is  the  former  bail- 
liage,  the  Hotel  Groslot,  the  most  illustrious  house  in 
Orleans  and  the  most  neglected. 

The  remains  of  that  edifice  inform  the  eyes  of  the 
archseologist  how  magnificent  it  was  at  a  time  when 
bourgeois  houses  were  built  much  more  frequently  of 
wood  than  of  stone,  and  when  none  but  noblemen 
had  the  right  to  build  manors — a  significant  word. 
To  have  been  selected  as  the  king's  place  of  sojourn 
at  a  period  when  the  court  displayed  so  much  mag- 
nificence and  pomp,  the  Hotel  Groslot  must  have 
been  the  largest  and  finest  house  in  Orleans.  It 
was  on  Place  de  I'Estape  that  the  Guises  and  the 
king  passed  in  review  the  civic  guard,  to  which 
Monsieur  de  Cypierre  was  assigned  as  commander 
during  the  king's  residence.  At  that  time,  the 
Cathedral  of  Sainte-Croix — subsequently  completed 
by  Henri  IV.,  who  chose  to  offer  that  pledge  of  the 
sincerity  of  his  conversion — was  in  process  of  con- 
struction, and  its  neighborhood,  strewn  with  blocks 
of  stone  and  encumbered  with  piles  of  boards,  was 


246  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

occupied  by  the  Guises,  who  had  their  quarters  in 
the  bishop's  palace,  since  demolished. 

The  town  was  under  military  occupation,  and  the 
measures  taken  by  the  Lorraines  indicated  how  little 
freedom  of  action  they  proposed  to  leave  to  the 
States-General,  whose  members  flooded  the  city 
and  caused  a  rise  in  rents,  even  in  the  meanest 
hovels.  The  court,  the  bourgeois  militia,  the  no- 
bility, and  the  bourgeoisie  anticipated  some  coup 
d'Etat,  and  their  anticipation  was  fulfilled  when  the 
princes  of  the  blood  arrived.  When  the  two  princes 
entered  the  royal  chamber,  the  courtiers  stood  aghast 
at  the  insolence  of  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  who,  in 
order  to  proclaim  his  pretensions  aloud,  remained 
covered,  while  the  King  of  Navarre  stood  before  him 
with  uncovered  head.  At  that,  Catherine  de'  Medici 
turned  her  eyes  away  in  order  not  to  betray  her 
indignation.  Thereupon  ensued  a  solemn  explana- 
tion between  the  young  king  and  the  two  chiefs  of 
the  younger  branch;  it  was  brief,  for  the  Prince  de 
Conde  had  hardly  opened  his  mouth  to  speak,  when 
Franfois  II.  put  an  end  to  the  interview  with  these 
terrible  words: 

"Messieurs  my  cousins,  I  had  supposed  that  the 
Amboise  affair  was  at  an  end;  I  see  that  I  was  mis- 
taken, and  that  you  wish  to  make  us  regret  our 
indulgent  treatment  of  you!" 

"It  is  not  the  king  who  is  speaking,  so  much  as 
Messieurs  de  Guise,"  retorted  the  Prince  de  Conde. 

"  Adieu,  monsieur,"  said  the  little  king,  purple 
with  wrath. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  247 

In  the  great  hall  the  prince's  path  was  blocked  by 
the  two  captains  of  the  guards.  When  the  captain 
of  the  French  company  stepped  forward,  the  prince 
drew  a  letter  from  his  breast,  and  said  to  him  before 
the  whole  court: 

"  Will  you  kindly  read  this  for  me,  Monsieur  de 
Maille-Breze?" 

"  Willingly,"  said  the  captain. 

"  '  Cousin,  come  in  all  confidence,  I  give  you  my 
royal  word  that  you  may  safely  do  so.  If  you  need 
a  safe-conduct,  these  presents  will  serve  the  pur- 
pose.' " 

"Signed.?"  said  the  shrewd  and  intrepid  hunch- 
back. 

"  Signed:  '  Francois,'  "  said  Maille. 

"No,  no,"  said  the  prince,  "it  is:  'Your  affec- 
tionate cousin  and  friend,  Francois!' — Messieurs," 
he  cried  to  the  Scottish  Guards,  "  I  follow  you  to 
the  prison  to  which  you  have  been  ordered  by  the 
king  to  conduct  me.  There  is  enough  nobility  of 
soul  in  this  hall  to  understand  that!" 

The  profound  silence  which  reigned  throughout 
the  hall  might  well  have  put  the  Guises  on  their 
guard;  but  silence  is  what  princes  listen  to  with 
least  attention. 

"  Monseigneur,"  said  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon, 
following  the  prince,  "since  the  affair  at  Amboise, 
you  have  engaged  in  enterprises  against  the  royal 
authority  at  Lyon,  and  at  Mouvans  in  Dauphine,  of 
which  the  king  had  no  knowledge  when  he  wrote 
you  in  those  terms." 


248  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Sharpers!"  exclaimed  the  prince,  with  a  laugh. 

"  You  made  a  public  declaration  against  the  mass, 
and  in  favor  of  heresy." 

"We  are  masters  in  Navarre,"  said  the  prince. 

"In  Beam,  you  mean.-*"  interposed  President  de 
Thou.     "  But  you  owe  homage  to  the  crown." 

"Ah!  so  you  are  here,  president.?"  sneered  the 
prince.     "  Is  the  whole  Parliament  with  you.?" 

With  that,  the  prince  cast  a  contemptuous  glance 
at  the  cardinal,  and  left  the  hall;  he  realized  that 
they  proposed  to  have  his  head.  On  the  following 
day,  when  Messieurs  de  Thou,  de  Viole,  d'Espesse, 
Bourdin  the  procureur-general,  and  du  Tillet  the 
chief  clerk  entered  his  prison,  he  kept  them  stand- 
ing while  he  expressed  his  regret  to  see  them  en- 
trusted with  a  matter  wholly  out  of  their  jurisdiction; 
then  he  said  to  the  clerk: 

"Write!" 

And  he  dictated  this: 

"  I,  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde,  peer  of 
the  realm,  Marquis  de  Conti,  Comte  de  Soissons, 
prince  of  the  royal  blood  of  France,  do  declare  that 
I  absolutely  refuse  to  recognize  the  authority  of  any 
commission  appointed  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  me, 
since,  by  virtue  of  my  rank  and  of  the  privilege  in- 
herent in  every  member  of  the  royal  family,  1  may 
be  accused,  heard,  and  tried  only  by  the  Parliament 
of  Paris,  attended  by  all  the  peers,  all  the  different 
chambers,  and  presided  over  by  the  king  sitting  on 
his  bed  of  justice." 

"You  must  know  that  better  than  anyone  else, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  249 

messieurs;  it  is  all  that  you  will  hear  from  me.  For 
the  rest,  I  place  my  trust  in  God  and  my  right." 

The  magistrates  proceeded,  notwithstanding  the 
prince's  obstinate  silence.  The  King  of  Navarre  was 
at  liberty,  but  was  closely  watched;  his  prison 
was  somewhat  larger  than  his  brother's,  but  that  was 
the  only  difference  between  their  respective  posi- 
tions; for  it  was  intended  that  both  their  heads 
should  fall  at  the  same  blow. 

Christophe  was  kept  so  carefully  in  secret  con- 
finement by  the  orders  of  the  cardinal  and  the  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom,  simply  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  the  magistrates  evidence  of  the  prince's 
culpability.  The  letters  seized  upon  La  Sagne,  the 
prince's  secretary,  although  intelligible  to  statesmen, 
were  not  sufficiently  explicit  for  judges.  The  cardinal 
had  meditated  upon  the  plan  of  arranging  a  chance 
meeting  between  the  prince  and  Christophe,  who 
had  been  placed,  not  without  design,  in  a  lower 
room  of  the  Saint-Aignan  Tower,  with  a  window 
looking  on  the  courtyard.  On  the  occasion  of  every 
examination  to  which  the  magistrates  subjected  him, 
he  took  refuge  in  a  system  of  absolute  denial,  which 
naturally  prolonged  the  trial  until  the  opening  of  the 
States. 

Lecamus,  who  had  not  failed  to  procure  his  own 
election  as  deputy  of  the  Third  Estate  by  the  bour- 
geoisie of  Paris,  reached  Orleans  a  few  days  after 
the  prince's  arrest.  That  news,  which  he  learned 
at  Etampes,  redoubled  his  anxiety,  for  he,  who  alone 
knew  of  the  interview  between  the  prince  and  his 


250  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

son  under  Pont  au  Change,  understood  that  Chris- 
tophe's  fate  was  bound  up  with  that  of  the  audacious 
leader  of  the  Reformation.  So  he  determined  to  study 
the  obscure,  involved  interests  which  began  to  clash 
at  court  immediately  upon  the  opening  of  the  States, 
in  order  to  devise  some  method  of  saving  his  son. 
He  could  not  think  of  Queen  Catherine,  for  she 
refused  to  see  her  furrier.  Not  one  of  the  persons 
connected  with  the  court  whom  he  was  able  to  ap- 
proach gave  him  any  satisfactory  news  concerning 
his  son,  and  he  had  reached  such  a  pitch  of  despera- 
tion that  he  was  on  the  point  of  appealing  to  the  car- 
dinal himself,  when  he  learned  that  Monsieur  de  Thou 
had  consented — and  it  is  an  indelible  blot  upon  his  ca- 
reer— to  act  as  one  of  the  Prince  de  Conde's  judges. 
The  syndic  went  to  see  his  son's  patron,  and  learned 
that  Christophe  was  still  alive,  but  a  prisoner. 

Tourillon  the  glover,  to  whom  La  Renaudie  had 
recommended  Christophe,  had  offered  Sieur  Lecamus 
a  room  in  his  house  throughout  the  session  of  the 
States.  The  glover  believed  the  furrier  to  be,  like 
himself,  secretly  attached  to  the  Reformed  religion; 
but  he  soon  discovered  that  a  father  who  fears  for 
his  son's  life  does  not  understand  fine  religious  dis- 
tinctions, but  throws  himself  desperately  upon  God's 
bosom,  heedless  of  the  color  of  the  scarf  which  men 
place  upon  Him.  The  old  man,  foiled  in  all  his  at- 
tempts to  gain  information,  walked  through  the 
streets  like  a  man  in  a  trance;  contrary  to  his 
expectations,  his  gold  availed  him  nothing;  Mon- 
sieur de  Thou  had  warned  him  that,  if  he  should 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  251 

bribe  a  retainer  of  the  Guises,  he  would  simply 
throw  his  money  away,  for  the  duke  and  the  car- 
dinal allowed  nothing  to  transpire  concerning  Chris- 
tophe.  That  magistrate,  whose  glory  is  somewhat 
tarnished  by  the  role  he  played  at  that  crisis,  had 
tried  to  give  the  despairing  father  some  hope;  but 
he  was  so  alarmed  himself  for  his  godson's  life  that 
his  words  of  consolation  only  alarmed  the  furrier 
more.  The  old  man  prowled  around  the  house.  In 
three  months  he  had  grown  wofully  thin.  He  based 
his  only  hope  upon  the  warm  friendship  which  had 
long  existed  between  himself  and  the  Hippocrates  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  Ambroise  Pare.  The  surgeon 
tried  to  say  a  word  to  Queen  Mary  on  leaving  the 
king's  room;  but  as  soon  as  he  mentioned  Chris- 
tophe's  name,  the  daughter  of  the  Stuarts,  irritated 
by  contemplation  of  her  probable  fate  if  anything 
should  happen  to  the  king,  and  believing  that  he 
had  been  poisoned  by  the  reformers,  because  of  the 
opportune  suddenness  of  his  illness,  replied: 

"If  my  uncles  had  listened  to  me,  such  a  fanatic 
would  have  been  hanged  long  ago!" 

On  the  evening  when  that  ominous  reply  was 
communicated  to  Lecamus  by  his  friend  Pare,  on 
Place  de  I'Estape,  he  returned  to  his  room,  half- 
dead,  and  refused  to  take  any  supper. 

Tourillon,  being  troubled  about  him,  went  up  to 
his  room  and  found  him  in  tears;  and  as  the  poor 
furrier's  old  eyes  showed  the  flesh  on  the  under 
side  of  the  inflamed,  wrinkled  eyelids,  the  glover 
thought  that  he  was  weeping  blood. 


252  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Take  comfort,  father,"  said  the  reformer,  **the 
bourgeois  of  Orleans  are  furious  to  see  their  city 
treated  as  if  it  had  been  taken  by  assault,  patrolled 
by  Monsieur  de  Cypierre's  troops;  and,  if  the  Prince 
de  Conde's  life  were  in  danger,  we  would  soon  pull 
down  the  Saint-Aignan  Tower;  for  our  whole  city 
is  for  the  Reformation,  and  will  rise  in  rebellion, — 
I  promise  you  that!" 

**  Even  if  you  should  hang  the  Lorraines,  would 
their  death  give  me  back  my  son?"  rejoined  the 
despairing  father. 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  gentle  tap  at  Touril- 
lon's  door,  and  the  glover  himself  went  down  to 
answer  it.  It  was  quite  dark.  In  those  troublous 
times,  every  householder  took  the  most  minute  pre- 
cautions. Tourillon  looked  out  through  the  bars  of 
the  wicket  in  his  door,  and  saw  a  stranger,  dressed 
in  black,  whose  accent  betrayed  an  Italian.  He 
asked  to  speak  to  Lecamus  on  matters  of  business, 
and  Tourillon  admitted  him.  At  sight  of  the  stranger 
the  furrier  was  terribly  startled,  but  the  stranger 
found  time  to  put  his  finger  to  his  lips.  Lecamus 
understood  the  gesture,  and  said  to  him: 

*'  I  suppose  you  have  come  to  of^er  me  some 
furs.?" 

"Si,"  the  stranger  replied  discreetly,  in  Italian. 

The  new-comer  was  the  famous  Ruggieri,  astrolo- 
ger to  the  queen-mother.  Tourillon  went  down  to 
his  own  quarters,  realizing  that  his  presence  in  his 
guest's  room  was  inopportune. 

"Where  can  we  talk  without  having  reason  to 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  253 

fear  that  we  may  be  overheard?"  said  the  prudent 
Florentine. 

"  We  must  go  into  the  open  fields  for  that,"  Le- 
camus  replied;  "  but  they  won't  let  us  leave  the 
city;  you  know  how  strictly  the  gates  are  guarded. 
No  one  is  allowed  to  go  out  without  a  pass  from 
Monsieur  de  Cypierre,  even  a  member  of  the  States, 
like  myself.  To-morrow,  at  our  session,  we  all 
propose  to  complain  of  this  abridgment  of  our  lib- 
erty." 

"  Work  like  a  mole,  but  never  let  your  paws  be 
seen  in  anything  you  do,"  said  the  crafty  Floren- 
tine. "  To-morrow  will  undoubtedly  be  the  decisive 
day.  If  my  observations  are  correct,  you  will  have 
your  son  again  to-morrow  or  the  next  day." 

"  May  God  hear  you,  who  are  supposed  to  consult 
the  devil  only!" 

"Come  to  my  quarters,"  said  the  astrologer, 
smiling.  "  For  watching  the  stars  I  have  the  tower 
of  Sieur  Touchet  de  Beauvais,  the  lieutenant  of  the 
bailliage,  whose  little  daughter  has  caught  the  fancy 
of  the  little  Due  d' Orleans.  I  have  cast  the  child's 
horoscope,  and  it  really  indicates  that  she  will  be  a 
great  lady  and  loved  by  a  king.  The  lieutenant  is 
an  intelligent  man,  he  is  devoted  to  the  sciences,  so 
the  queen  procured  apartments  for  me  in  his  house; 
he  is  bright  enough  to  be  a  fanatical  Guisard  pending 
the  accession  of  Charles  IX." 

The  furrier  and  the  astrologer  betook  themselves 
to  Sieur  de  Beauvais's  abode  without  meeting  any- 
body or  being  seen;  but,  in  case  Lecamus's  visit 


254  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

should  be  discovered,  the  Florentine  proposed  to 
account  for  it  as  an  astrological  consultation  con- 
cerning Christophe's  fate.  When  they  had  reached 
the  upper  floor  of  the  turret,  where  the  astrologer's 
study  was,  Lecamus  said  to  him: 

**  Is  my  son  surely  alive?" 

"  Thus  far,"  replied  Ruggieri,  **  but  his  life  is  still 
to  be  saved.  Hark  ye,  dealer  in  skins;  1  would  not 
give  two  sous  for  your  life,  if  you  should  ever,  while 
you  live,  repeat  a  single  syllable  of  what  I  am  about 
to  say  to  you." 

**  An  unnecessary  warning,  my  good  sir;  I  have 
been  furrier  to  the  court  since  the  time  of  King 
Louis  XII.,  and  this  is  the  fourth  reign  I  have 
seen." 

"  You  will  soon  say  the  fifth,"  observed  Ruggieri. 

"  What  do  you  know  of  my  son?" 

"  Well,  he  has  been  put  to  the  question." 

"Poor  boy!"  said  the  goodman,  raising  his  eyes 
to  Heaven. 

"  His  knees  and  ankles  were  crushed  a  bit;  but  he 
has  earned  the  protection  of  a  royal  personage  which 
will  extend  over  his  whole  life,"  said  the  Florentine 
hastily,  observing  the  father's  dismay.  "  Your  little 
Christophe  has  rendered  a  service  to  our  great 
Queen  Catherine.  If  we  extricate  your  son  from 
the  clutches  of  the  Lorraines,  you  will  see  him  a 
counsellor  in  the  parliament  some  day.  A  man 
might  suffer  all  his  bones  to  be  broken  thrice  to  win 
the  good  graces  of  that  dear  sovereign,  a  transcen- 
dent genius  who  will  triumph  over  all  obstacles!     I 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  255 

have  cast  the  Due  de  Guise's  horoscope:  he  will  be 
killed  within  a  year! — Let  us  see — Christophe  saw 
the  Prince  de  Conde — " 

"  Do  not  you,  who  know  the  future,  know  the 
past  as  well?"  said  the  furrier. 

"  I  am  not  questioning  you,  my  good  friend,  I  am 
telling  you  the  fact.  Now,  if  your  son,  who  will  be 
placed  in  the  prince's  path  to-morrow,  recognizes 
him,  or  if  the  prince  recognizes  your  son.  Monsieur 
de  Conde's  head  will  fall.  God  knows  what  will 
become  of  his  accomplice!  But  never  fear.  Neither 
your  son  nor  the  prince  will  be  put  to  death;  I  have 
cast  their  horoscopes,  and  they  will  live;  but  I  cannot 
say  by  what  means  they  will  extricate  themselves 
from  the  affair.  Leaving  the  certainty  of  my  calcu- 
lations out  of  the  question,  we  must  do  what  we  can. 
To-morrow  the  prince  will  receive  by  a  trustworthy 
hand  a  book  of  prayers,  in  which  we  shall  send  him 
a  word  of  warning.  God  grant  that  your  son  may 
be  discreet,  for  he  will  not  be  forewarned!  A  single 
glance  of  recognition  will  cost  the  prince  his  life. 
And  so,  although  the  queen-mother  has  every  reason 
to  rely  on  Christophe's  fidelity — " 

"  She  has  put  it  to  some  severe  tests!"  cried  the 
furrier. 

"  Do  not  speak  so!  Do  you  fancy  the  queen  is 
happy?  She  proposes  to  take  measures  as  if  the 
Guises  had  determined  on  the  prince's  death;  and 
she  does  well,  wise  and  prudent  queen  that  she  is! 
Now,  she  relies  upon  you  for  assistance  in  every- 
thing.    You  have  some  influence  in  the  third  estate. 


256  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

representing  the  associated  guilds  of  Paris,  and  al- 
though the  Guisards  may  promise  to  set  your  son 
free,  try  to  cozen  them  and  incite  your  Order  against 
the  Lorraines.  Ask  that  the  queen-mother  be  made 
regent ;  the  King  of  Navarre  will  give  his  assent 
publicly  in  the  session  of  the  States." 

"  But  the  king  ?" 

"  The  king  will  die,"  Ruggieri  replied.  "  I  have 
cast  his  horoscope.  What  the  queen  asks  you  to 
do  for  her  in  the  States  is  very  simple;  but  she 
expects  a  greater  service  from  you.  You  assisted 
the  great  Ambroise  Pare  in  his  studies,  you  are  his 
friend—" 

"  Ambroise  cares  more  for  the  Due  de  Guise 
to-day  than  for  me,  and  he  is  quite  right,  for  he  owes 
his  position  to  him;  but  he  is  loyal  to  the  king.  And 
so,  although  he  is  inclined  toward  the  Reformation, 
he  will  do  nothing  contrary  to  his  duty." 

**  The  devil  take  these  honest  men!"  cried  the 
Florentine.  "  Ambroise  boasted  this  evening  that 
he  would  cure  the  little  king.  If  the  king  recovers 
his  health,  the  Guises  will  triumph,  the  princes  will 
lose  their  lives,  the  House  of  Bourbon  will  come  to 
an  end,  we  shall  return  to  Florence,  your  son  will 
be  hanged,  and  the  Lorraines  will  find  it  easy  to 
deal  with  the  other  sons  of  France." 

"  Great  God  I"  cried  Lecamus. 

"  Do  not  exclaim  thus:  it  is  like  a  bourgeois  who 
knows  nothing  of  the  court ;  but  go  at  once  to  Am- 
broise and  find  out  from  him  what  he  intends  to  do 
to  save  the  king's  life.   If  he  professes  any  certainty. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  257 

do  you  come  to  me  and  describe  the  operation  in 
which  he  has  so  much  faith." 

"But — "  Lecamus  began. 

"Obey  blindly,  my  dear  fellow;  otherwise  you 
will  be  bewildered." 

"  He  is  right,"  thought  the  furrier. 

And  he  went  in  search  of  the  king's  first  surgeon, 
who  was  quartered  at  an  inn  on  Place  du  Martroi. 

At  that  moment,  Catherine  de'  Medici  was  in  a 
political  extremity  similar  to  that  in  which  Chris- 
tophe  had  seen  her  at  Blois.  Though  she  had 
girded  up  her  loins  for  the  struggle,  though  she 
had  exerted  her  lofty  intelligence  in  that  first  discom- 
fiture, her  situation,  although  practically  the  same, 
was  even  more  critical  and  more  perilous  than  at  the 
time  of  the  Tumult  of  Amboise.  Events  had  pro- 
gressed no  less  than  the  woman.  Although  she 
seemed  to  be  acting  in  harmony  with  the  two  Lor- 
raine princes,  Catherine  held  in  her  hand  the  threads 
of  a  cunningly  devised  plot  against  her  formidable 
associates,  and  only  awaited  a  propitious  moment 
to  throw  away  the  mask.  The  cardinal  had  just 
obtained  positive  proof  that  Catherine  was  deceiv- 
ing him.  The  wily  Italian  had  fixed  upon  the 
younger  branch  as  a  suitable  obstacle  to  oppose  to 
the  pretensions  of  the  Guises;  and,  despite  the 
advice  of  the  two  Gondis,  who  urged  her  to  allow 
the  Guises  to  come  to  blows  with  the  Bourbons,  she 
had  thwarted,  by  warning  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
the  plan  which  they  had  formed  in  concert  with 
Spain,  to  seize  upon  Beam.  As  that  State  secret  was 
17 


258  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

known  only  to  themselves  and  the  queen-mother, 
the  two  Lorraine  princes,  certain  of  the  duplicity  of 
their  ally,  determined  to  send  her  back  to  Florence; 
and,  to  leave  no  doubt  of  Catherine's  treason  to  the 
State, — the  House  of  Lorraine  was  the  State, — the 
duke  and  the  cardinal  had  entrusted  to  her  their 
design  of  ridding  themselves  of  the  King  of  Navarre. 
The  precautions  instantly  taken  by  Antoine  de 
Bourbon  proved  to  the  two  brothers  that  that  secret, 
known  only  to  themselves  and  to  the  queen-mother, 
had  been  divulged  by  her.  The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine 
forthwith  taxed  the  queen-mother  with  her  faithless- 
ness, in  presence  of  Francois  IL,  threatening  her 
with  an  edict  of  banishment  in  case  that  any  fresh 
indiscretion  on  her  part  should  endanger  the  State. 
Catherine,  being  in  extreme  peril,  bore  herself  like 
a  great  king.  She  demonstrated  her  exalted  capa- 
bilities; but  we  must  confess  that  she  was  well 
served  by  her  close  friends.  L'H6pital  sent  to  the 
queen  a  note  in  these  words : 

"  Do  not  allow  a  prince  of  the  blood  to  be  put  to  death  by  a 
commission,  or  they  will  soon  make  away  with  you  also!" 

Catherine  sent  Birague  to  Vignay  to  bid  the 
chancellor  attend  the  session  of  the  States,  despite 
his  disgrace.  Birague  arrived  within  three  leagues 
of  Orleans  that  very  night,  with  L'H6pital,  who 
thus  declared  himself  on  the  queen-mother's  side. 
Chiverni,  whose  loyalty  had  by  this  time,  and  with 
good  reason,  begun  to  be  suspected  by  Messieurs  de 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  259 

Guise,  had  made  his  escape  from  Orleans,  and  by- 
hard  riding,  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  had 
reached  Ecouen  in  ten  hours.  He  informed  the 
Connetable  de  Montmorency  of  the  perilous  plight 
of  his  nephew,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  and  of  the 
audacity  of  the  Lorraines.  Anne  de  Montmorency, 
furious  to  learn  that  the  prince  owed  his  life  only 
to  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  disease  of  which 
Francois  II.  eventually  died,  set  out  for  Orleans 
with  fifteen  hundred  horse  and  a  hundred  noblemen. 
In  order  to  surprise  Messieurs  de  Guise  more  com- 
pletely, he  avoided  Paris,  going  from  Ecouen  to 
Corbeil,  and  from  Corbeil  to  Pithiviers  by  the  valley 
of  the  Essonne. 

"Captain  against  captain,  there  will  be  some 
work  to  do,"  he  observed  on  the  occasion  of  that 
bold  march. 

Anne  de  Montmorency,  who  had  saved  France  at 
the  time  that  Charles  V.  invaded  Provence,  and  the 
Due  de  Guise,  who  had  checked  the  emperor's 
second  invasion  at  Metz,  were,  in  truth,  the  two 
greatest  soldiers  in  France  at  this  time.  Catherine 
had  waited  until  the  most  opportune  moment  to 
kindle  the  hatred  of  the  constable,  who  had  been 
disgraced  by  the  influence  of  the  Lorraines.  How- 
ever, the  Marquis  de  Simeuse,  commanding  at  Gien, 
upon  learning  of  the  arrival  of  a  force  so  considera- 
ble as  the  constable's,  rode  off  to  the  Due  de  Guise, 
hoping  to  be  able  to  warn  him  in  time. 

The  queen-mother,  feeling  sure  that  the  consta- 
ble would  come  to  the  assistance  of  his  nephew,  and 


260  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

relying  confidently  on  the  chancellor's  devotion  to  the 
king's  cause,  had  revived  the  hopes  and  the  inso- 
lence of  the  party  of  the  Reformation.  The  Colignys 
and  the  friends  of  the  imperilled  House  of  Bourbon 
had  made  common  cause  with  the  queen-mother's 
partisans.  A  coalition  between  common  interests 
attacked  by  a  common  enemy  was  secretly  formed 
in  the  States-General,  where  it  was  openly  proposed 
to  make  Catherine  regent  of  the  kingdom  in  case  of 
the  death  of  Frangois  II.  Catherine,  whose  faith  in 
judicial  astrology  exceeded  her  faith  in  the  Church, 
had  dared  to  take  any  measures  against  her  op- 
pressors, when  she  saw  her  son  actually  dying  at 
the  expiration  of  the  time  fixed  by  the  sorceress 
whom  Nostradamus  had  brought  to  her  at  the  cha- 
teau of  Chaumont. 

Some  days  before  the  shocking  closing  scenes  of 
this  reign,  Francois  II.  had  expressed  a  wish  to  take 
a  trip  on  the  Loire,  in  order  not  to  be  in  the  city 
when  the  Prince  de  Conde  was  executed.  After  he 
had  abandoned  the  prince's  head  to  the  Cardinal  de 
Lorraine,  he  lived  in  equal  dread  of  an  uprising  and 
of  the  supplications  of  the  Princesse  de  Conde.  As 
he  was  about  to  embark,  one  of  the  cool  winds  which 
blow  along  the  Loire  in  the  early  winter  caused  him 
such  a  severe  pain  in  the  ear  that  he  was  obliged 
to  return  to  the  palace;  he  took  to  his  bed,  never  to 
leave  it  again  alive.  Despite  the  contradiction  of  the 
physicians,  who,  with  the  exception  of  Chapelain, 
were  his  enemies  and  antagonists,  Pare  maintained 
that  an  abscess  had  formed  in  the  king's  head,  and 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  261 

that  unless  the  foreign  substance  were  discharged, 
the  chances  of  saving  his  life  decreased  from  day  to 
day. 

Notwithstanding  the  late  hour  and  the  curfew  law, 
which  was  strictly  enforced  in  Orleans,  the  city 
being  practically  in  a  state  of  siege,  Fare's  lamp 
shone  in  his  window,  and  he  was  studying;  Lecamus 
hailed  him  from  the  street,  and  when  he  had  called 
out  his  name,  the  physician  ordered  that  his  old 
friend  should  be  admitted. 

"You  take  no  rest,  Ambroise,  and,  while  you  re- 
store life  to  others,  you  waste  your  own,"  said  the 
furrier,  as  he  entered  the  room. 

The  surgeon  was  sitting,  with  his  books  lying 
open  on  the  table  and  his  instruments  scattered 
about,  before  a  skull,  recently  buried  and  taken 
from  the  cemetery,  in  which  he  had  made  an  in- 
cision. 

"  It's  a  question  of  saving  the  king's  life." 

"Are  you  very  certain  of  your  ability  to  do  it?" 
cried  the  old  man,  with  a  shudder. 

"As  certain  as  of  my  existence.  The  king,  my 
old  friend,  has  a  pernicious  abscess  pressing  on  the 
brain,  which  will  eventually  break  and  fill  it,  and 
the  crisis  is  at  hand;  but,  by  boring  into  the  skull, 
I  expect  to  expel  the  pus  and  relieve  the  brain.  I 
have  thrice  before  performed  this  operation,  which 
was  invented  by  a  Piedmontese,  and  which  I  have 
had  the  good  fortune  to  perfect.  The  first  was  on 
Monsieur  de  Pienne  at  the  siege  of  Metz;  I  cured 
him,  and  he  has  been  a  wiser  man  since:  he  had  an 


262  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

abscess  caused  by  an  arquebus  shot  in  the  head. 
The  second  saved  the  life  of  a  pauper,  upon  whom 
I  wished  to  demonstrate  the  beneficence  of  the  au- 
dacious operation  to  which  Monsieur  de  Pienne  had 
submitted.  The  third  operation  was  upon  a  gentle- 
man in  Paris  who  is  perfectly  well  to-day.  Trepan- 
ning— that  is  the  name  of  the  operation — is  but  little 
known  as  yet.  Patients  are  reluctant  to  undergo  it 
because  of  the  imperfection  of  the  instrument,  which 
I  have  succeeded  at  last  in  improving.  I  am  experi- 
menting on  this  head,  in  order  not  to  fail  on  the 
king's  to-morrow." 

"You  should  be  sure  of  your  ground,  for  your 
own  head  would  be  in  danger  in  case — " 

"I  would  wager  my  life  that  he  will  be  cured," 
replied  Ambroise,  with  the  serene  confidence  of  the 
man  of  genius.  "Ah!  my  old  friend,  what  does 
boring  a  hole  in  the  head  amount  to,  with  due  pre- 
caution? isn't  it  what  soldiers  do  every  day  in  battle, 
with  no  precautions  whatever?" 

"My  son,"  said  the  outspoken  bourgeois,  "do 
you  know  that  to  save  the  king  is  to  ruin  France? 
Do  you  know  that  that  instrument  will  help  to  place 
the  crown  of  the  Valois  on  the  head  of  the  Lorraine 
who  claims  to  be  the  heir  of  Charlemagne?  Do  you 
know  that  surgery  and  politics  are  entangled  at  this 
moment?  Yes,  the  triumph  of  your  genius  means 
the  downfall  of  your  religion.  If  the  Guises  re- 
tain the  regency,  the  blood  of  the  reformers  will 
flow  in  streams!  Be  a  great  citizen  rather  than  a 
great  surgeon,  and  sleep  late  to-morrow,  leaving  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  263 

sick-room  to  the  physicians  who,  if  they  fail  to  cure 
the  king,  will  cure  France!" 

"I!"  cried  Pare,  "I  let  a  man  die  when  I  can 
save  him!  No!  no!  though  I  were  to  be  hanged 
myself  as  an  accomplice  of  Calvin,  I  will  go  to  the 
king  early.  Do  you  not  know  that  the  only  favor  I 
propose  to  ask,  after  I  have  saved  the  king,  is  your 
Christophe's  life?  There  certainly  will  be  a  mo- 
ment when  Queen  Mary  will  refuse  me  nothing." 

"  Alas!  my  friend,"  said  Lecamus,  "has  not  the 
little  king  refused  to  pardon  the  Prince  de  Conde  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  princess?  Do  not  crush  your 
religion  by  prolonging  the  life  of  the  man  who  is 
doomed  to  die." 

"  Do  you  propose  to  take  a  hand  in  trying  to  find 
out  how  God  proposes  to  order  future  events?" 
cried  Pare.  "  Honest  men  have  but  one  motto: 
'  Do  your  duty,  come  what  come  may!' — I  did  my 
duty  at  the  siege  of  Calais,  when  I  put  my  foot  on 
the  grand  master's  face:  I  ran  the  risk  of  being 
strangled  by  all  his  friends,  by  his  retainers,  and 
to-day  1  am  first  surgeon  to  the  king;  nay,  more,  I 
am  of  the  Reformed  religion,  and  Messieurs  de  Guise 
are  my  friends.  I  will  save  the  king!"  cried  the 
surgeon,  with  the  solemn  enthusiasm  of  conviction 
which  genius  imparts,  "  and  God  will  save  France!" 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door,  and  a  few  moments 
later  one  of  Ambroise's  servants  handed  a  paper  to 
Lecamus,  who  read  aloud  these  alarming  words: 

"  A  scaffold  is  being  erected  at  the  Convent  des  Recollets, 
on  which  the  Prince  de  Conde  is  to  be  beheaded  to-morrow." 


264  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Ambroise  and  Lecamus  gazed  at  each  other,  over- 
whelmed by  the  same  feeling  of  profound  horror. 

"  I  will  go  to  make  sure  of  it,"  said  the  furrier. 

On  the  square,  Ruggieri  took  Lecamus's  arm  and 
asked  him  the  secret  of  Ambroise's  plan  for  saving 
the  king,  but  the  old  man  feared  some  ruse  and  in- 
sisted upon  going  to  see  the  scaffold.  So  the  furrier 
and  the  astrologer  went  together  to  the  Recollets, 
where  they  found  carpenters  working  by  torchlight. 

"  I  say,  friend,  what  are  you  at  work  upon.?" 
Lecamus  asked  one  of  them. 

*'  We  are  preparing  to  hang  heretics,  as  the  bleed- 
ing at  Amboise  did  not  cure  them,"  said  a  young 
Recollet  who  was  overlooking  the  workmen. 

"  Monsieur  le  cardinal  is  quite  right,"  said  the 
prudent  Ruggieri;  "but  in  our  country  we  have  a 
better  way." 

"  What  do  you  do.?"  said  the  Recollet. 

"We  burn  them,  brother." 

Lecamus  was  obliged  to  lean  upon  the  astrologer; 
his  legs  refused  to  carry  him,  for  he  thought  that  his 
son  might  be  hanging  from  one  of  those  gibbets  on 
the  morrow.  The  poor  old  man  was  between  two 
sciences,  astrology  and  surgery,  both  of  which  prom- 
ised him  the  safety  of  his  son,  for  whom  the  scaffold 
was  evidently  being  erected.  In  the  confusion  of  his 
ideas  he  allowed  himself  to  be  kneaded  like  dough 
by  the  Florentine. 

"  Well,  my  worthy  dealer  in  miniver,  what  do 
you  say  to  these  Lorraine  pleasantries.?"  said  Rug- 
gieri. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  265 

"Alas!  you  know  that  I  would  give  my  own  skin 
to  see  my  son's  safe  and  whole!" 

"  There  spoke  the  dealer  in  ermine,"  rejoined  the 
Italian;  "but  explain  to  me  carefully  the  operation 
Ambroise  proposes  to  perform  on  the  king,  and  I 
will  answer  for  your  son's  life." 

"  Really?"  cried  the  old  furrier. 

"  What  oath  shall  I  take?"  queried  Ruggieri. 

At  that  proof  of  good  faith,  the  poor  old  man  re- 
peated his  interview  with  Ambroise  to  the  Floren- 
tine, who  left  the  heart-broken  father  in  the  street 
as  soon  as  the  great  surgeon's  secret  was  divulged. 

"  Which  devil  is  that  knave  aiming  at?"  cried  the 
old  man,  as  he  saw  Ruggieri  hurrying  away  toward 
Place  de  I'Estape. 

Lecamus  knew  nothing  of  the  terrible  scene  which 
was  taking  place  around  the  royal  bed,  and  which  had 
caused  the  order  to  erect  the  scaffold  for  the  prince, 
whose  sentence  had  been  pronounced  by  default,  so 
to  speak,  and  whose  execution  had  been  postponed 
because  of  the  king's  illness. 


In  the  great  hall,  on  the  stairway,  and  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  baiUiage,  no  one  was  to  be  seen 
save  persons  actually  on  duty.  The  great  multi- 
tude of  the  courtiers  crowded  the  apartments  of  the 
King  of  Navarre,  to  whom,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  realm,  the  regency  would  belong.  The  French 
nobility,  alarmed  by  the  insolence  of  the  Guises,  felt 
the 'advisability  of  rallying  around  the  head  of  the 
younger  branch,  seeing  the  queen-mother  subor- 
dinated to  the.  Guises,  and  having  no  comprehen- 
sion of  her  Italian  policy.  Antoine  de  Bourbon,  true 
to  his  secret  agreement  with  Catherine,  was  not  to 
yield  his  claim  to  the  regency  in  her  favor  until  the 
States  had  pronounced  their  judgment  upon  that 
question.  This  profound  solitude  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  grand  master,  when,  on  returning 
from  making  the  round  of  the  city  posts  as  a  meas- 
ure of  prudence,  he  found  in  attendance  upon  the 
king  none  but  the  friends  who  were  attached  to  his 
own  fortunes. 

The  room  in  which  Frangois  II. 's  bed  was  placed 
adjoined  the  principal  hall  of  the  baiUiage.  It  was 
at  that  time  wainscoted  with  oak.  The  ceiling, 
composed  of  long,  narrow  boards,  cunningly  matched 
and  painted,  was  decorated  with  blue  arabesques  on 
a  gold  background,  a  part  of  which,  when  it  was 
torn  down  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  was  acquired  by  a 
(267) 


268  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

collector  of  antiquities.  This  room,  which  was  hung 
with  tapestries  and  had  a  carpet  on  the  floor,  was 
naturally  so  dark  that  the  torches  hardly  lighted  it. 
The  huge  bed,  with  four  columns  and  silk  curtains, 
resembled  a  tomb.  On  one  side  of  the  bed,  by  the 
pillow,  were  Queen  Mary  and  the  Cardinal  de  Lor- 
raine. Catherine  was  seated  in  an  easy-chair.  The 
famous  Jean  Chapelain,  the  physician  on  duty,  who 
was  afterward  first  physician  to  Charles  IX.,  was 
standing  by  the  fireplace.  The  most  profound  silence 
reigned.  The  young  king,  thin  and  pale,  was  almost 
lost  among  the  bedclothes,  his  pinched  little  face 
hardly  visible  on  the  pillow.  The  Duchesse  de 
Guise  sat  on  a  stool,  assisting  the  young  Queen 
Mary,  and  Madame  de  Fiesco,  in  the  window-recess, 
watched  closely  every  look  and  movement  of  the 
queen-mother,  for  she  realized  the  dangers  of  her 
position. 

In  the  hall,  notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the 
hour.  Monsieur  de  Cypierre,  tutor  to  the  Due  d'Or- 
leans,  and  lately  appointed  governor  of  the  city, 
occupied  one  corner  of  the  fireplace  with  the  two 
Gondis.  The  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  who  espoused 
the  queen-mother's  cause  at  this  crisis,  because  he 
was  treated  as  an  inferior  by  the  Cardinal  de  Lor- 
raine, whose  ecclesiastical  equal  he  certainly  was, 
was  talking  in  undertones  with  the  Gondis.  Mare- 
chal  de  Vieilleville  and  Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  were 
discussing  the  dangers  to  which  the  Guises  were  ex- 
posed with  the  keeper  of  the  seals,  who  presided 
over  the  States. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  269 

The  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom  crossed  the 
hall,  casting  a  swift  glance  around,  and  saluted 
the  Due  d'Orleans,  whom  he  espied  there. 

"Monseigneur,"  he  said,  "this  may  serve  to 
teach  you  to  understand  mankind :  the  Catholic 
nobility  of  the  kingdom  are  in  attendance  upon  a 
heretic  prince,  because  they  believe  that  the  States 
will  grant  the  regency  to  the  heirs  of  the  traitor 
who  caused  your  illustrious  grandfather  to  be  kept 
so  long  in  prison." 

Having  said  these  words,  which  were  well  adapted 
to  make  a  deep  impression  in  the  heart  of  a  prince,  he 
passed  into  the  bed-chamber,  where  the  young  king 
was  in  a  sort  of  heavy  torpor  rather  than  asleep. 
Ordinarily,  the  Due  de  Guise  was  able  to  disguise 
the  sinister  appearance  of  his  scarred  face  by  an 
expression  of  great  affability,  but,  at  that  moment, 
he  had  not  the  heart  to  smile,  seeing  that  the  in- 
strument of  his  power  was  falling  in  pieces.  The- 
cardinal,  whose  civil  courage  was  as  great  as  his 
brother's  military  courage,  stepped  forward  to  meet 
the  lieutenant-general. 

"  Robertet  thinks  that  little  Pinard  is  sold  to  the 
queen-mother,"  he  said  in  his  ear,  leading  him  back 
into  the  hall ;  "they  have  used  him  to  work  upon 
the  members  of  the  States." 

"  Bah!  what  matters  it  that  we  are  betrayed  by 
a  secretary  when  everybody  betrays  us!"  cried  the 
lieutenant-general.  "  The  city  is  for  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  we  are  on  the  eve  of  an  uprising.  Yes! 
the  wasps  are  discontented,"  he  added,  using  the 


270  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

nickname  commonly  applied  to  the  people  of  Or- 
leans, "  and  if  Pare  does  not  save  the  king,  we  shall 
have  a  terrible  clashing  of  shields.  Before  long  we 
shall  have  to  lay  siege  to  Orleans,  which  is  a  hot- 
bed of  Huguenots." 

"  For  the  last  few  minutes,"  rejoined  the  cardinal, 
"  I  have  been  watching  that  Italian  who  sits  there 
utterly  unmoved,  watching  for  her  son's  death,  God 
forgive  her!  I  am  wondering  if  we  should  not  do 
well  to  arrest  her  as  well  as  the  King  of  Navarre." 

"It  is  too  much  to  have  the  Prince  de  Conde  in 
prison!"  replied  the  duke.  , 

The  clatter  of  a  horseman  riding  at  full  speed 
rang  out  at  the  gate  of  the  bailliage.  The  two 
Lorraine  princes  went  to  the  window,  and  by  the 
light  of  the  concierge's  and  sentinel's  torches  which 
were  always  burning  under  the  porch  they  recog- 
nized on  the  horseman's  hat  the  famous  Lorraine 
cross  which  the  cardinal  had  caused  his  adherents 
to  adopt.  He  sent  one  of  the  arquebusiers  who 
were  in  the  antechamber,  to  bid  the  guards  admit 
the  new-comer,  while  he  and  his  brother  went  out 
to  the  landing  to  meet  him. 

"  What  is  it,  my  dear  Simeuse?"  the  duke,  upon 
recognizing  the  governor  of  Gien,  asked  with  the 
charm  of  manner  which  he  was  accustomed  to  dis- 
play for  men  of  the  sword. 

"  The  constable  is  entering  Pithiviers;  he  left 
Ecouen  with  fifteen  hundred  horse  and  a  hundred 
gentlemen — " 

"  Have  they  an  escort.'"*  said  the  duke. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  27I 

"  Yes,  monseigneur,  there  are  twenty-six  hundred 
of  them  in  all.  Some  say  that  Thore  is  behind  with 
a  body  of  infantry.  If  the  constable  amuses  him- 
self by  waiting  for  his  son,  you  have  time  to  defeat 
him." 

"Do  you  know  nothing  more.?  Are  the  reasons 
for  this  appeal  to  arms  divulged?" 

"  Anne  talks  as  little  as  he  writes;  go  out  to  meet 
him,  brother,  while  I  prepare  to  greet  him  with  his 
nephew's  head,"  said  the  cardinal,  sending  a  ser- 
vant to  bid  Robertet  to  come  to  him. 

**  Vieilleville!"  cried  the  duke  to  the  marshal,  who 
came  at  his  call,  "the  constable  has  the  presumption 
to  appear  at  Orleans  under  arms;  if  I  go  out  to  meet 
him,  will  you  undertake  to  hold  the  city?" 

"  As  soon  as  you  go  forth,  the  citizens  will  take  up 
arms.  And  who  can  answer  for  the  result  of  a  battle 
between  horsemen  and  bourgeois  in  these  narrow 
streets?"  replied  the  marshal. 

"Monseigneur,"  said  Robertet,  rushing  hurriedly 
up  the  stairs,  "the  chancellor  is  at  the  gate  and 
wishes  to  enter;  shall  we  admit  him?" 

"  Admit  him,"  replied  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine. 
"  Constable  and  chancellor  together  would  be  too 
dangerous;  we  must  separate  them.  We  were  hand- 
somely tricked  by  the  queen-mother  in  the  choice  of 
L'Hopital  for  that  office." 

Robertet  motioned  with  his  head  to  a  captain  who 
was  awaiting  orders  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  then 
turned  back  hastily  to  listen  to  the  cardinal's  in- 
structions. 


272  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

"  I  take  the  liberty,  monseigneur,"  he  said,  mak- 
ing one  more  effort,  "to  suggest  that  the  sentence 
must  be  approved  by  the  king  in  his  council.  If  you 
violate  the  law  for  a  prince  of  the  blood,  it  will  not 
be  respected  hereafter,  for  a  cardinal,  nor  for  a  Due 
de  Guise." 

"  Pinard  has  turned  your  head,  Robertet,"  said 
the  cardinal  sternly.  "  Do  you  not  know  that  the 
king  signed  the  decree  on  the  day  that  he  started  to 
leave  the  city  in  order  to  leave  its  execution  to  us?" 

"Although  you  practically  ask  me  to  sacrifice  my 
head  by  assigning  me  to  this  duty,  which  can  be 
executed  by  the  provost  of  the  city,  I  will  go,  mon- 
seigneur." 

The  grand  master  listened  to  this  discussion  with- 
out moving  a  muscle;  but  he  took  his  brother  by  the 
arm  and  led  him  to  a  corner  of  the  hall. 

"  Unquestionably,"  he  said,  "  the  heirs  of  Charle- 
magne have  the  right  to  resume  a  crown  which  was 
usurped  from  their  ancestors  by  Hugues  Capet;  but 
can  they  do  Ml  The  pear  is  not  ripe.  Our  nephew 
is  dying,  and  the  whole  court  is  dancing  attendance 
on  the  King  of  Navarre." 

"  The  king's  heart  failed  him.  But  for  that,  the 
Bearnais  would  have  been  stabbed,  and  we  should 
have  had  no  difficulty  with  the  other  children." 

"We  are  in  a  bad  plight  here,"  said  the  duke. 
"  The  outbreak  in  the  city  would  be  supported  by 
the  States.  L'Hopital,  whom  we  pressed  for  the 
chancellorship  and  whom  the  queen-mother  opposed, 
is  against  us  to-day,  and  we  need  the  aid  of  the  law. 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  273 

The  queen-mother  is  supported  by  too  many  people 
to-day  for  us  to  send  her  away.  Besides,  there  are 
three  other  princes!" 

"  She  is  no  longer  a  mother,  she  is  all  queen,"  said 
the  cardinal;  "and  for  that  reason,  in  my  judgment, 
this  is  the  moment  to  have  done  with  her.  Energy, 
and  energy,  and  more  energy!  that's  my  motto." 

Thereupon  the  cardinal  returned  to  the  king's 
apartment,  followed  by  the  grand  master.  The  priest 
went  straight  to  Catherine. 

"  The  papers  taken  from  La  Sagne,  the  Prince  de 
Conde's  secretary,  have  been  communicated  to  you, 
have  they  not,  and  you  know  that  the  Bourbons 
propose  to  dethrone  your  children?"  he  said. 

"  I  know  all  that,"  replied  the  Italian. 

"  Very  well,  do  you  intend  to  arrest  the  King  of 
Navarre.?" 

"There  is  a  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom," 
she  said. 

At  that  moment,  Frangois  II.  complained  of  severe 
pains  in  his  ear  and  began  to  groan  piteously.  The 
doctor  left  the  fireplace,  where  he  was  warming  him- 
self, and  went  to  examine  his  head. 

"  Well,  monsieur?"  inquired  the  grand  master,  ad- 
dressing the  first  physician. 

"  I  do  not  dare  take  it  upon  myself  to  apply  a 
cataplasm  to  draw  out  the  matter,"  said  Chapelain. 
"  Master  Ambroise  has  promised  to  save  the  king  by 
an  operation,  and  I  should  interfere  with  it." 

"Let  us  postpone  it  till  to-morrow,"  said  Cath- 
erine coldly,  "  and  let  all  the  physicians  be  present; 
18 


274  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

for  you  know  to  what  calumnies  a  prince's  death 
gives  birth." 

She  went  and  kissed  her  soa's  hands,  and  with- 
drew. 

"  How  calmly  that  impudent  tradesman's  daugh- 
ter alludes  to  the  death  of  the  dauphin,  who  was 
poisoned  by  Montecuculli,  a  Florentine  of  her  own 
suite!"  cried  Mary  Stuart. 

**  Mary!"  cried  the  little  king,  "  my  grandfather 
never  had  the  slightest  doubt  of  her  innocence." 

"  Can  we  prevent  that  woman  from  coming  here 
to-morrow.?"  the  young  queen  asked  her  uncles,  in 
an  undertone. 

**  What  would  become  of  us  if  the  king  should 
die.?"  replied  the  cardinal;  "Catherine  would  push 
us  all  into  his  tomb." 

Thus  the  issue  was  clearly  drawn  that  night  be- 
tween Catherine  de'  Medici  and  the  House  of  Lor- 
raine. The  chancellor's  arrival  and  the  constable's 
indicated  a  revolt;  therefore  the  next  morning  would 
be  decisive. 

The  next  morning,  the  queen-mother  was  the  first 
to  appear.  She  found  in  her  son's  chamber  only 
Queen  Mary  Stuart,  pale  and  .exhausted,  who  had 
passed  the  night  praying  by  the  bedside.  The 
Duchesse  de  Guise  had  attended  the  queen  through 
the  night,  and  the  maids  of  honor  had  relieved  one 
another.  The  young  king  was  asleep.  Neither  the 
duke  nor  the  cardinal  had  appeared  as  yet.  The 
priest,  more  courageous  than  the  soldier,  exerted,  it 
was  said,  during  that  last  night,  all  his  powers  of 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  275 

persuasion,  but  could  not  induce  the  duke  to  seize 
upon  the  crown.  In  face  of  the  assembled  States- 
General,  and  threatened  with  a  conflict  with  the 
Connetable  de  Montmorency,  Le  Balafre  did  not 
consider  the  circumstances  favorable  for  the  attempt; 
he  refused  to  arrest  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  queen- 
mother,  the  chancellor,  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  the 
Gondis,  Ruggieri,  and  Birague,  dwelling  upon  the 
outbreak  which  would  follow  such  violent  measures. 
He  insisted  that  his  brother's  projects  must  depend 
upon  the  life  or  death  of  Frangois  II. 

The  most  profound  silence  reigned  in  the  king's 
chamber,  Catherine,  attended  by  Madame  de  Fi- 
esco,  walked  to  the  bedside  and  gazed  upon  her  son 
with  an  admirably  well-feigned  grief-stricken  air. 
She  put  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes  and  with- 
drew to  the  window-recess,  where  Madame  de  Fiesco 
brought  her  a  chair.  There,  she  fixed  her  eyes  upon 
the  courtyard. 

It  had  been  agreed  between  Catherine  and  the 
Cardinal  de  Tournon  that,  if  the  constable  succeeded 
in  entering  the  city  without  opposition,  the  cardinal 
would  come  to  the  palace  with  the  two  Gondis,  and 
that,  if  anything  had  gone  wrong,  he  would  come 
alone.  At  nine  in  the  morning,  the  two  Lorraine 
princes,  attended  by  their  suites,  who  remained  in 
the  hall,  appeared  in  the  king's  room;  the  captain 
of  the  guard  on  duty  had  notified  them  of  the  arri- 
val of  Ambroise  Pare  with  Chapelain  and  three  other 
physicians  in  Catherine's  interest,  all  of  whom  hated 
Ambroise. 


276  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

In  a  few  moments  the  great  hall  of  the  hailliage 
presented  precisely  the  same  appearance  as  the  salle 
des  gardes  at  Blois  on  the  day  when  the  Due  de 
Guise  was  made  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom 
and  Christophe  was  put  to  the  torture,  with  the 
exception  that  at  that  time  the  royal  apartment 
overflowed  with  love  and  joy,  the  Guises  were  tri- 
umphant: whereas  to-day  sorrow  and  death  reigned, 
and  the  Guises  felt  that  their  power  was  slipping 
from  their  hands.  The  maids  of  honor  of  the  two 
queens  were  encamped  at  each  corner  of  the  great 
fireplace,  where  an  enormous  fire  was  blazing.  The 
hall  was  full  of  courtiers.  The  report  that  had  been 
put  in  circulation,  no  one  knew  by  whom,  that  Am- 
broise  had  conceived  a  daring  plan  for  saving  the 
king's  life,  brought  together  all  the  nobles  who  were 
entitled  to  appear  at  court.  The  outer  staircase  of 
the  bailliage  and  the  courtyard  were  filled  with  anx- 
ious groups.  The  scaffold  prepared  for  the  prince 
in  front  of  the  Convent  des  Recollets  surprised  all 
the  nobility.  They  conversed  in  undertones,  and 
their  conversation  presented  the  same  mixture  of 
serious,  frivolous,  trivial,  and  solemn  remarks  as  at 
Blois.  People  were  beginning  to  become  accustomed 
to  the  civil  commotions,  the  sudden  revolutions,  ap- 
peals to  arms,  rebellions,  and  unexpected  momentous 
events  which  marked  the  long  period  during  which 
the  House  of  Valois  gradually  died  out,  despite  the 
efforts  of  Catherine  de'  Medici.  Absolute  silence 
prevailed  within  a  certain  distance  of  the  door  of 
the  king's  chamber,  which  was  guarded  by  two 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  277 

halberdiers,  two  pages,  and  the  captain  of  the  Scot- 
tish Guard.  Antoine  de  Bourbon,  a  prisoner  in  his 
lodgings,  divined  the  hopes  of  the  court  when  he 
found  that  he  was  left  alone  once  more,  and  he  was 
overwhelmed  by  the  news  of  the  preparations  made 
during  the  night  for  his  brother's  execution. 

In  front  of  the  fireplace  in  the  hall  of  the  hailliage, 
stood  one  of  the  noblest  and  grandest  figures  of  that 
time,  the  Chancellor  de  I'Hopital,  in  his  red  robe 
with  ermine  border,  and  with  his  cap  on  his  head  in 
accordance  with  the  privilege  of  his  office.  That 
courageous  man,  seeing  that  his  benefactors  were 
rebels  at  heart,  had  espoused  the  cause  of  his  sov- 
ereigns, represented  by  the  queen-mother;  and  he 
had  gone  to  Ecouen  to  take  counsel  with  the  con- 
stable, at  the  risk  of  losing  his  head;  no  one  dared 
to  interrupt  the  meditation  in  which  he  was  plunged. 
Robertet,  the  secretary  of  State,  two  marshals  of; 
France,  Vieilleville  and  Saint-Andre,  and  the  keeper 
of  the  seals,  formed  a  group  in  front  of  the  chan- 
cellor. The  courtiers  were  not  actually  laughing; 
but  their  remarks  were  malicious,  especially  among 
those  who  were  not  partisans  of  the  Guises. 

The  cardinal  had  at  last  captured  the  Scotchman 
Stuart,  the  assassin  of  President  Minard,  and  had 
caused  his  trial  to  be  begun  at  Tours.  He  also  held 
in  custody,  in  the  chateaux  of  Blois  and  of  Tours, 
a  goodly  number  of  compromised  noblemen,  for  the 
purpose  of  inspiring  terror  in  the  nobility,  who  were 
not  terrified,  however,  and  who  found  in  the  Refor- 
mation a  spur  to  the  love  of  revolution  inspired  by 


278  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

the  consciousness  of  their  former  equality  with  the 
king.  Now,  the  prisoners  at  Blois  had  found  a 
means  of  escape,  and,  by  a  strange  fatality,  the  pris- 
oners at  Tours  imitated  those  at  Blois. 

"Madame,"  said  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon  to 
Madame  de  Fiesco,  "  if  anyone  is  interested  in  the 
prisoners  at  Tours,  they  are  in  great  danger." 

At  those  words,  the  chancellor  turned  his  face 
toward  the  queen-mother's  maids  of  honor. 

"  Yes,  young  Desvaux,  the  Prince  de  Conde's 
equerry,  who  was  detained  at  Tours,  emphasized 
his  flight  by  a  bitter  jest.  He  wrote  this  note  to 
Messieurs  de  Guise,  they  say: 

"  *  We  have  learned  of  the  escape  of  your  prisoners  at 
Blois ;  we  are  so  annoyed  that  we  have  started  off  after  them  ; 
we  will  bring  them  back  to  you  as  soon  as  we  have  caught 
^them.'" 

Although  the  jest  was  not  displeasing  to  the  chan- 
cellor, he  bestowed  a  stern  glance  on  Monsieur  de 
Chatillon.  At  that  moment,  loud  voices  were  heard 
in  the  king's  room.  The  two  marshals,  Robertet, 
and  the  chancellor  drew  near  the  door,  for  it  was 
not  simply  a  matter  of  the  king's  life  or  death;  the 
whole  court  was  in  the  secret  of  the  perilous  position 
of  the  chancellor,  Catherine,  and  her  adherents.  The 
silence  that  ensued  was  deathlike.  Ambroise  had 
examined  the  king,  the  moment  seemed  favorable 
for  his  operation;  if  it  were  not  performed,  Fran- 
cois II.  might  die  at  any  moment.  As  soon  as  Mes- 
sieurs de  Guise  appeared,  he  had  explained  to  them 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  279 

the  causes  of  the  king's  illness,  and  that,  in  the 
present  extremity,  it  was  necessary  to  trepan  him; 
and  he  was  awaiting  the  word  from  the  physicians. 

"Cut  into  my  son's  head  as  if  it  were  a  board, 
and  with  that  horrible  instrument!"  cried  Catherine 
de'  Medici;  "  I  will  not  allow  it.  Master  Ambroise." 

The  physicians  were  consulting;  but  Catherine's 
words  were  uttered  in  such  a  loud  voice  that  they 
were  heard  on  the  other  side  of  the  door,  as  she  had 
intended. 

"  But,  madame,  if  there  is  no  other  way  to  save 
him,"  said  Mary  Stuart,  weeping. 

"Ambroise,"  exclaimed  Catherine,  "remember 
that  you  will  answer  for  the  king's  life  with  your 
own." 

"  We  oppose  the  method  that  Master  Ambroise  sug- 
gests," said  the  three  physicians.  "  We  can  save  the 
king  by  injecting  in  his  ear  a  preparation  which  will 
draw  out  the  matter  through  the  passage  of  the  ear." 

The  grand  master,  who  was  watching  Catherine's 
face,  suddenly  went  to  her  and  drew  her  into  the 
window-recess. 

"Madame,"  he  said,  "you  desire  the  death  of 
your  son  ;  you  are  acting  in  concert  with  our  ene- 
mies, and  have  been  since  Blois.  This  morning. 
Counsellor  de  Viole  told  your  furrier's  son  that  the 
Prince  de  Conde's  head  was  to  be  cut  off.  That 
young  man,  who  during  his  torture  denied  all  rela- 
tions with  the  Prince  de  Conde,  made  a  sign  of  fare- 
well to  him  as  he  passed  the  window  of  his  dungeon. 
You  watched  your  unhappy  accomplice  under  the 


28o  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

torture  with  royal  insensibility.  You  choose  to-day 
to  oppose  the  recovery  of  your  oldest  son.  You 
will  make  us  believe  that  the  dauphin's  death,  which 
placed  the  crown  on  the  late  king's  head,  was  not 
natural,  and  that  Montecuculli  was  your — " 

"Monsieur  le  Chancelier!"  cried  Catherine,  while 
Madame  de  Fiesco,  at  a  signal  from  her,  threw  the 
folding-doors  wide  open. 

Thereupon  the  spectacle  within  the  royal  cham- 
ber was  revealed  to  the  audience:  the  little  king 
with  his  livid,  deathlike  face  and  sightless  eyes,  but 
stammering  the  word  Mary,  and  holding  the  weeping 
young  queen's  hand  ;  the  Duchesse  de  Guise,  stand- 
ing by  the  bed,  dismayed  by  Catherine's  hardi- 
hood ;  the  two  Lorraine  princes,  equally  disturbed 
in  mind,  but  standing  beside  the  queen-mother, 
having  determined  to  order  Maille-Breze  to  arrest 
her;  and,  finally,  the  tall  form  of  Ambroise  Pare, 
assisted  by  the  king's  physician,  and  with  his  in- 
struments ready  in  his  hand,  but  afraid  to  begin  the 
operation,  for  which  absolute  quiet  was  as  essential 
as  the  approbation  of  the  physicians. 

"  Monsieur  le  Chancelier,"  said  Catherine,  "  Mes- 
sieurs de  Guise  propose  to  authorize  a  novel  opera- 
tion upon  the  king's  person.  Ambroise  offers  to 
bore  a  hole  in  his  head.  I,  as  his  mother,  as  one  of 
the  Council  of  Regency,  protest  against  what  seems 
to  me  the  crime  of  l^se-majeste.  The  three  physi- 
cians favor  an  injection,  which  seems  to  me  quite  as 
likely  to  be  efficacious  and  less  dangerous  than  the 
barbarous  treatment  proposed  by  Ambroise." 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDIO  28 1 

A  sorrowful  murmur  followed  her  words.  The 
cardinal  allowed  the  chancellor  to  enter,  and  closed 
the  door. 

"  But  I  am  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom," 
said  the  Due  de  Guise,  "  and  you  must  know. 
Monsieur  le  Chancelier,  that  Ambroise  will  answer 
for  his  success  with  his  life." 

"Ah!  if  affairs  are  to  take  this  course,"  ex- 
claimed the  great  Ambroise  Pare,  "  why,  this  is  my 
duty." 

He  extended  his  arm  over  the  bed. 

"  This  bed  and  the  king  are  mine,"  he  continued. 
"  I  make  myself  solely  responsible  and  claim  sole 
control ;  1  know  the  duties  of  my  office,  and  I  will 
operate  upon  the  king  without  the  consent  of  the 
physicians." 

"Save  him,"  said  the  cardinal,  "and  you  shall 
be  the  richest  man  in  France." 

"  Go  on,  pray,"  said  Mary  Stuart,  pressing  Am- 
broise's  hand. 

"  I  cannot  prevent  this  thing,"  said  the  chancellor, 
"  but  1  protest  on  behalf  of  Madame  la  reine  m^re." 

"  Robertet!"  cried  the  Due  de  Guise. 

When  Robertet  had  entered  the  room,  the  lieu- 
tenant-general pointed  to  the  chancellor. 

"You  are  chancellor  of  France  in  that  felon's 
stead,"  he  said  to  him.  "Monsieur  de  Maille,  con- 
duct Monsieur  de  I'Hopital  to  the  Prince  de  Conde's 
place  of  confinement. — As  for  you,  madame,"  he 
said  to  Catherine,  "  your  protest  will  not  be  re- 
ceived, and  you  would  do  well  to  reflect  that  such 


282  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

acts  need  to  be  supported  by  sufficient  force.  1  am 
acting  as  becomes  a  faithful  subject  and  loyal  ser- 
vant of  King  Francois  II.,  my  master, — Proceed, 
Ambroise,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  surgeon. 

"  Monsieur  de  Guise,"  said  L'H6pital,  "  if  you 
use  violence  either  upon  the  king  or  the  chancellor  of 
France,  reflect  that  there  are  in  yonder  hall  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  French  noblemen  to  arrest  traitors." 

"  Ah!  messeigneurs,"  cried  the  great  surgeon,  "  if 
you  continue  these  discussions,  you  may  as  well 
cry:  'Vive  King  Charles  IX.!'  for  King  Frangois  is 
dying." 

Catherine,  unaffected,  was  looking  through  the 
window. 

"  Very  well,  we  will  use  force  to  make  ourselves 
masters  of  the  king's  chamber,"  said  the  cardinal, 
who  started  to  close  the  door. 

But  he  was  dismayed  to  see  that  the  hall  of  the 
bailliage  was  utterly  deserted.  The  court,  convinced 
that  the  king's  death  was  inevitable,  had  hurried  off 
to  Antoine  de  Navarre. 

"  Well,  go  on,"  cried  Mary  Stuart  to  Ambroise. 
"I — and  you,  duchess,"  she  said  to  Madame  de 
Guise — "  will  protect  you." 

"Madame,"  said  Ambroise,  "  my  zeal  carried  me 
away;  the  physicians,  save  my  friend  Chapelain, 
are  in  favor  of  an  injection,  and  I  am  bound  to  obey 
them.  He  would  have  been  saved,  had  I  been  first 
physician  as  well  as  first  surgeon! — Give  it  to  me," 
he  said,  taking  a  little  syringe  from  the  hands  of  the 
first  physician  and  filling  it. 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  283 

"  Mon  Dieu  !  "  said  Mary  Stuart,  "  I  order  you — " 

"Alas!  madame,"  said  Ambroise,  "I  am  subordi- 
nate to  these  gentlemen." 

The  young  queen  took  her  place  with  the  grand 
master's  wife  among  the  surgeon  and  the  physicians 
and  the  other  persons  present.  The  first  physician 
held  the  king's  head,  and  Ambroise  injected  the 
preparation  into  his  ear.  The  two  Lorraine  princes 
watched  the  proceeding  closely.  Robertet  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Maille  did  not  stir.  Madame  de  Fiesco  left 
the  room  unnoticed,  at  a  sign  from  Catherine.  At 
that  moment,  L'Hopital  boldly  opened  the  door  of  the 
king's  chamber. 

"I  come  in  good  time,"  said  a  man,  whose  hur- 
ried footsteps  echoed  through  the  hall,  and  who  ap- 
peared an  instant  later  in  the  doorway  of  the  royal 
apartment.  "Ah!  messieurs,  so  you  proposed  to  cut 
off  the  head  of  my  handsome  nephew,  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  eh  ? — but  you  have  brought  the  lion  forth 
from  his  den,  and  he  is  here!"  added  the  Connetable 
de  Montmorency. — "Ambroise,  you  shall  not  fumble 
about  with  your  instruments  in  my  king's  head ! 
The  kings  of  France  do  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
mangled  save  by  their  enemies'  swords,  in  battle! 
The  first  prince  of  the  blood,  Antoine  de  Bourbon, 
the  Prince  de  Conde,  the  queen-mother,  the  con- 
stable, and  the  chancellor  are  opposed  to  this  opera- 
tion.'* 

To  Catherine's  great  satisfaction,  the  King  of 
Navarre  and  Prince  de  Conde  appeared  at  that 
moment. 


284  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  this?"  demanded  the 
Due  de  Guise,  putting  his  hand  to  his  sword. 

"  In  my  capacity  as  constable,  I  have  dismissed 
the  sentinels  at  all  the  posts.  Tete-Dieu!  you  are  not 
in  an  enemy's  country  here,  I  conceive.  The  king 
our  master  is  in  the  midst  of  his  subjects,  and  the 
States  of  the  realm  are  entitled  to  deliberate  without 
constraint.  I  come  from  the  States,  messieurs!  I 
carried  thither  the  remonstrance  of  my  nephew  of 
Conde,  whom  three  hundred  gentlemen  released 
from  his  prison.  You  proposed  to  shed  royal  blood 
and  decimate  the  nobility  of  the  kingdom.  Ah! 
henceforth  I  shall  be  distrustful  of  all  your  plans, 
Messieurs  de  Lorraine.  If  you  order  the  king's 
head  to  be  opened,  I  swear  by  this  sword,  which 
saved  France  from  Charles  V.  under  his  grandsire, 
that  it  shall  not  be." 

"Especially,"  said  Ambroise  Pare,  "as  it  would 
be  useless  now;  effusion  has  begun." 

"Your  reign  is  at  an  end,  messieurs,"  said  Cath- 
erine to  the  Lorraines,  seeing  from  Ambroise's 
expression  that  there  was  no  more  hope. 

"Ah!  madame,  you  have  killed  your  son,"  said 
Mary  Stuart,  springing  like  a  lioness  from  the  bed 
to  the  window  and  seizing  the  Florentine  by  the 
arm,  which  she  gripped  savagely. 

"My  dear,"  Catherine  retorted,  with  a  cunning, 
cold  glance  at  Mary,  in  which  she  allowed  her 
hatred,  held  in  check  for  six  months,  to  find  ex- 
pression, "  you,  to  his  frantic  love  of  whom  we 
owe  his  death,  may  go  now  and  reign   in  your 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  285 

Scotland,  and  you  shall  start  to-morrow.  I  am  de 
facto  regent." 

The  three  physicians  had  made  a  sign  to  the  queen- 
mother. 

"  Messieurs,"  she  said,  turning  to  the  Guises,  "  it 
is  understood  between  Monsieur  de  Bourbon,  ap- 
pointed lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom  by  the 
States,  and  myself,  that  we  will  henceforth  attend 
to  affairs  of  State. — Come,  Monsieur  le  Chancelier." 

**  The  king  is  dead,"  said  the  grand  master,  bound 
to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office. 

"Vive  King  Charles  IX.!"  cried  the  gentlemen 
who  had  come  v.'ith  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Prince 
de  Conde,  and  the  constable. 

The  ceremonies  which  take  place  at  the  death  of 
a  king  of  France  were  performed  in  solitude.  When 
the  king-at-arms  cried  thrice  in  the  hall:  "  The  king 
is  dead  1"  after  the  official  proclamation  by  the  Due 
de  Guise,  there  were  but  few  persons  to  respond: 
*^Vive  le  roi!'^ 

The  queen-mother,  to  whom  Madame  de  Fiesco 
brought  the  Due  de  Orleans,  for  the  last  few  mo- 
ments King  Charles  IX.,  went  out  leading  her  son 
by  the  hand,  and  was  followed  by  the  whole  court. 
There  remained  in  the  chamber  where  Francois  II. 
breathed  his  last,  only  the  two'  Lorraines,  the  Du- 
chesse  de  Guise,  Mary  Stuart,  and  Dayelle,  with  the 
two  guards  at  the  door,  the  pages  in  attendance  on 
the  grand  master  and  the  cardinal,  and  their  private 
secretaries. 

"Vive  la  France!"  cried  several  partisans  of  the 


286  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Reformed  religion,  sounding  the  first  note  of  opposi- 
tion. 

Robertet,  who  owed  everything  to  the  duke  and 
the  cardinal,  alarmed  by  the  failure  of  their  plans 
and  enterprises,  secretly  gave  in  his  adhesion  to 
the  queen-mother;  and  the  ambassadors  of  Spain, 
England,  Poland,  and  the  Empire  came  to  the  hall 
to  meet  her,  led  by  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  who 
had  gone  to  notify  them  of  the  state  of  affairs, 
after  showing  himself  in  the  courtyard  to  Catherine 
just  as  she  protested  against  Ambroise  Fare's  pro- 
posed operation. 

"Well!  the  descendants  of  Louis  d'Outre-Mer, 
the  heirs  of  Charles  de  Lorraine  have  lacked  cour- 
age," said  the  cardinal  to  the  duke. 

**  They  would  have  been  exiled  to  Lorraine,"  re- 
plied the  grand  master.  "I  tell  you,  Charles,  that, 
if  the  crown  were  there,  I  would  not  put  out  my 
hand  to  take  it.    I  will  leave  that  for  my  son  to  do." 

"  Will  he  ever  have,  as  you  have,  the  army  and 
the  Church?" 

**  He  will  have  something  better." 

"What?" 

"  The  people!" 

"  There  is  no  one  but  me  to  weep  for  this  poor 
boy  who  loved  me  so  dearly!"  said  Mary  Stuart, 
holding  her  dead  husband's  cold  hand  in  hers. 

"  Through  whom  can  we  become  reconciled  to  the 
queen?"  said  the  cardinal. 

"Wait  until  she  quarrels  with  the  Huguenots," 
replied  the  duchess. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  287 

The  conflicting  interests  of  the  House  of  Bourbon, 
of  Catherine,  of  the  Guises,  and  of  the  party  of  the 
Reformation  produced  such  confusion  in  Orleans  that 
not  until  three  days  later  was  the  king's  body,  which 
had  lain  neglected  in  the  hailliage,  placed  in  a  coffin 
by  humble  retainers  and  despatched  to  Saint-Denis 
in  a  covered  carriage,  attended  only  by  the  Bishop  of 
Senlis  and  two  gentlemen.  When  that  melancholy 
funeral  party  reached  the  little  town  of  Etampes,  a 
retainer  of  Chancelier  de  I'Hopital  fastened  upon  the 
carriage  this  bitterly  ironical  inscription  which  history 
has  handed  down:  "  Tanneguy  du  Chastel,  where 
art  thou?  But  thou  werta  Frenchman!" — A  stinging 
rebuke  of  Catherine,  Mary  Stuart,  and  the  Lorraines. 
What  Frenchman  does  not  know  that  Tanneguy  de 
Chastel  expended  thirty  thousand  crowns — equal  to 
a  million  of  francs  to-day — upon  the  obsequies  of 
Charles  VII.,  the  benefactor  of  his  family? 

As  soon  as  the  tolling  of  the  bells  announced  the 
death  of  Francois  ll.  in  Orleans,  and  the  Connetable 
de  Montmorency  had  caused  all  the  gates  of  the  city 
to  be  thrown  open,  Tourillon  went  up  to  his  garret 
and  walked  to  a  hiding-place  in  the  wall. 

"  Can  it  be  that  he  is  dead?"  he  exclaimed. 

Thereupon  a  man  appeared,  and  replied:  ''Ready 
to  serve!"  the  watchword  of  those  reformers  who 
followed  Calvin. 

That  man  was  Chaudieu,  to  whom  Tourillon  nar- 
rated the  events  of  the  past  week,  during  which  he 
had  left  the  minister  alone  in  his  hiding-place  with 
no  food  save  a  twelve-pound  loaf. 


288  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Hasten  to  the  Prince  de  Conde,  brother;  ask 
him  for  a  safe-conduct  for  me,  and  find  me  a  horse,** 
cried  the  minister;  "  1  must  be  off  instantly." 

"  Write  him  a  line,  so  that  he  will  receive  me.'* 

"  Here,**  said  Chaudieu,  after  writing  a  few 
words,  "ask  the  King  of  Navarre  for  a  pass,  for  at 
the  present  crisis  1  must  hasten  to  Geneva." 

In  two  hours  everything  was  ready,  and  the  zealous 
minister  was  on  his  way  to  Switzerland,  accompanied 
by  a  gentleman  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
whose  secretary  Chaudieu  was  supposed  to  be,  and 
who  was  the  bearer  of  instructions  to  the  reformers 
in  Dauphine.  Chaudieu's  departure  was  assented  to 
instantly  in  the  interest  of  Catherine,  who  made, 
to  gain  time,  a  bold  proposition  as  to  which  the  most 
profound  secrecy  was  maintained.  That  strange 
conception  explains  the  sudden  agreement  between 
her  and  the  Huguenot  leaders.  The  crafty  creature 
had  given  out  as  a  pledge  of  her  good  faith  an 
earnest  desire  to  adjust  the  differences  between  the 
two  churches  in  an  assemblage  which  could  be  called 
neither  synod  nor  council  nor  conference,  but  for 
which  a  new  name  must  be  found,  and,  most  im- 
portant of  all,  Calvin's  approval  secured.  When 
this  mystery  became  known,  let  us  say,  in  passing, 
it  led  to  the  alliance  between  the  Guises  and  the 
Connetable  de  Montmorency  against  Catherine  and 
the  King  of  Navarre,  a  curious  alliance,  known  in 
history  by  the  name  of  the  triumvirate,  because  the 
Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  was  a  third  member  of  that 
purely  Catholic  coalition,  induced  by  the  strange 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  289 

proposition  of  a  colloquy  between  Calvinists  and 
Catholics.  Catherine's  deep  policy  was  accurately 
divined  by  the  Guises  at  that  time;  they  understood 
that  the  queen  really  cared  but  little  about  the  pro- 
posed colloquy,  but  simply  desired  to  temporize  with 
her  allies  until  the  majority  of  Charles  IX.;  so  they 
deceived  the  constable  by  making  him  believe  in 
a  combination  of  forces  between  the  Bourbons  and 
Catherine,  while  Catherine  fooled  them  all.  As  we 
see,  the  queen  had  become  exceedingly  clever  in  a 
short  time.  The  spirit  of  argument  and  disputation 
which  then  prevailed  was  singularly  favorable  to  her 
suggestion.  Catholics  and  reformers  all  hoped  to 
make  their  mark  in  that  tournament  of  words.  And 
that  is  precisely  what  happened.  Is  it  not  extraor- 
dinary that  historians  have  taken  the  queen's  most 
adroit  stratagems  for  exhibitions  of  uncertainty.? 
Catherine  never  went  more  directly  toward  her  goal 
than  in  these  shrewd  measures  which  seemed  to  lead 
away  from  it. 

The  King  of  Navarre,  incapable  of  understanding 
Catherine's  reasoning,  despatched  Chaudieu  to  Cal- 
vin; he  had  risked  his  life  to  watch  the  course  of 
events  at  Orleans,  where  he  was  likely  to  be  dis- 
covered from  hour  to  hour  and  hanged  without  trial, 
like  every  man  over  whom  a  decree  of  banishment 
is  hanging.  At  the  rate  of  travelling,  at  that  time, 
Chaudieu  was  not  likely  to  reach  Geneva  before 
February,  the  negotiations  could  not  be  concluded 
until  March,  and  the  colloquy  could  not  really  be 
held  before  the  beginning  of  May,  1561.  Catherine 
19 


290  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

had  formed  the  plan  of  keeping  the  court  and  the 
various  parties  amused  by  the  king's  coronation  and 
by  his  first  bed  of  justice  at  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
where  De  Thou  and  L'Hopital  procured  the  confir- 
mation of  the  letters  whereby  Charles  IX.  entrusted 
the  government  of  the  realm  to  his  mother  jointly 
with  the  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  Antoine 
de  Navarre,  the  weakest  prince  of  that  age! 

It  was  a  most  extraordinary  spectacle  to  see  a 
whole  kingdom  waiting  in  suspense  for  the  ji^^s  or  no 
of  a  French  bourgeois,  who,  after  a  long  life  of  ob- 
scurity, was  at  this  time  established  in  authority  at 
Geneva!  The  Transalpine  Pope  held  in  check  by 
the  Pope  at  Geneva!  the  two  Lorraine  princes,  but 
now  so  powerful,  paralyzed  by  this  momentary  com- 
bination of  the  first  prince  of  the  blood,  the  queen- 
mother,  and  Calvin!  Surely  it  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  lessons  that  kings  can  learn  from  history,  a 
lesson  which  teaches  them  to  weigh  the  qualities  of 
men,  to  do  homage  to  genius,  and  to  seek  it  out,  as 
Louis  XIV.  did,  wherever  God  has  placed  it! 


Calvin,  whose  name  was  not  Calvin,  but  Cauvin, 
was  the  son  of  a  cooper  of  Noyon  in  Picardie.  His 
native  province  explains,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  ob- 
stinacy blended  with  abnormal  activity  which  was 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  that  arbiter  of  the 
destinies  of  France  in  the  sixteenth  century.  No 
character  in  history  is  less  familiar  than  the  man 
who  gave  birth  to  Geneva  and  the  spirit  that  dis- 
tinguished that  city.  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  who 
possessed  little  historical  knowledge,  was  entirely 
ignorant  of  that  man's  influence  upon  his  republic. 
And,  indeed,  Calvin,  who  lived  in  one  of  the  least 
pretentious  houses  of  upper  Geneva,  near  the  tem- 
ple of  Saint  Peter,  over  a  cabinet-maker, — the  first 
point  of  resemblance  between  him  and  Robespierre, — 
at  first  wielded  no  very  great  authority  in  the  city. 
For  a  long  time,  his  power  was  maliciously  confined 
by  the  Genevans  within  narrow  limits.  In  the  six- 
teenth century,  Geneva  had  in  Farel  one  of  those 
illustrious  citizens  who  remain  unknown  to  the  world 
at  large,  and  often  to  the  very  place  of  their  abode. 
This  Farel,  about  1537,  detained  Calvin  in  that  city, 
commending  it  to  him  as  the  most  secure  fortress  of 
a  reformation  more  militant  than  Luther's.  Both 
Farel  and  Calvin  looked  upon  Lutheranism  as  an 
incomplete,  insuificient  work,  which  had  acquired  no 
hold  in  France.  Geneva,  located  between  France 
(291) 


292  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

and  Italy,  and  with  the  French  language  in  general 
use,  was  admirably  situated  for  correspondence  with 
Germany,  Italy,  and  France.  Calvin  adopted  Gen- 
eva as  the  seat  of  his  moral  fortunes  and  made  it  the 
citadel  of  his  ideas. 

The  Council  of  Geneva,  at  Farel's  instance,  au- 
thorized Calvin  to  give  lessons  in  theology,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1538.  Calvin  left  the  preaching  to  Farel, 
his  first  disciple,  and  patiently  devoted  his  energies 
to  the  inculcation  of  his  doctrines.  His  authority, 
which  became  absolute  in  the  later  years  of  his  life, 
was  destined  to  be  established  with  great  difficulty. 
The  great  agitator  encountered  such  serious  obsta- 
cles, that  he  was  banished  from  Geneva  for  a  con- 
siderable time  because  of  the  severity  of  his  methods 
of  reform.  There  was  a  party  of  worthy  people  who 
held  out  for  the  old-fashioned  luxurious  living  and 
for  the  old  customs.  But,  as  always,  these  worthy 
folk  dreaded  ridicule,  were  unwilling  to  admit  the 
object  of  their  efforts,  and  made  their  fight  upon 
points  unconnected  with  the  real  question  at  issue. 
Calvin  insisted  that  they  should  use  leavened  bread 
for  the  communion,  and  that  there  should  be  no  more 
holidays,  except  Sundays.  These  innovations  were 
disapproved  at  Berne  and  Lausanne,  and  the  Gene- 
vans were  instructed  to  conform  to  the  Swiss  ritual. 
Calvin  and  Fare!  resisted,  and  their  political  enemies 
availed  themselves  of  this  disagreement  to  drive  them 
from  Geneva,  from  which  city  they  were  practically 
exiled  for  several  years.  Calvin  afterward  returned 
in  triumph  at  the  demand  of  his  flock. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  295 

Such  persecution  always  ends  by  solidifying  the 
moral  power,  when  the  victim  has  the  patience  to 
wait.  His  return  was  the  beginning  of  his  career 
as  prophet.  The  executions  were  beginning,  and 
Calvin  organized  his  religious  terror.  Immediately 
upon  the  return  of  that  transcendent  mind,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Genevan  bourgeoisie;  but,  after  a 
residence  of  fourteen  years,  he  had  not  become 
a  member  of  the  council.  At  the  time  that  Cath- 
erine despatched  an  envoy  to  him,  that  king  of  ideas 
had  no  other  title  than  that  of  pastor  of  the  church 
at  Geneva.  Calvin  never  received  more  than  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  francs  in  money,  fifteen  measures  of 
wheat,  and  two  casks  of  wine,  for  his  yearly  salary. 
His  brother,  a  simple  tailor,  had  a  shop  a  few  yards 
from  Place  Saint-Pierre,  on  the  street  where  one  of 
the  largest  printing-houses  in  Geneva  now  stands. 
This  disinterestedness,  which  is  lacking  in  the  lives 
of  Newton,  Voltaire,  and  Bacon,  but  shines  resplen- 
dent in  those  of  Rabelais,  Campanella,  Luther,  Vico, 
Descartes,  Malebranche,  Spinoza,  Loyola,  Kant,  and 
Jean-Jacques  Rousseau,  surely  forms  a  glorious  set- 
ting for  those  sublime  and  ardent  faces! 

The  similar  existence  of  Robespierre  alone  can 
enable  contemporaries  to  understand  the  career  of 
Calvin,  who,  resting  his  power  on  the  same  founda- 
tions, was  as  cruel,  as  despotic,  as  the  lawyer  from 
Arras!  Strangely  enough,  Picardie — Arras  and 
Noyon — supplied  both  of  those  instruments  of  ref- 
ormation! All  those  who  choose  to  examine  the 
reasons   for  the   punishments  ordained   by  Calvin 


294  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

will  find,  after  making  due  allowance  for  differences 
of  time  and  place,  1793  in  foto  at  Geneva.  Calvin 
caused  Jacques  Gruet  to  be  beheaded  "for  having 
written  impious  letters  and  licentious  poetry,  and 
for  having  endeavored  to  overthrow  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal ordinances." — Reflect  upon  that  sentence,  ask 
yourself  whether  the  most  shocking  tyrannies  offer 
for  their  saturnalia  of  crime  more  cruelly  absurd 
judgments.  Valentin  Gentilis,  condemned  to  death 
for  involuntaty  heresy,  escaped  the  gallows  only  by 
a  retractation  more  ignominious  than  those  exacted 
by  the  Catholic  Church.  Seven  years  prior  to  the 
conference  about  to  be  held  at  Calvin's  house  con- 
cerning the  queen-mother's  propositions,  Michel 
Servet,  a  Frenchman,  passing  through  Geneva,  was 
arrested,  tried,  convicted  upon  Calvin's  accusation, 
and  burned  alive,  for  having  assailed  the  mystery  of 
the  Trinity  in  a  book  which  was  neither  written  nor 
published  at  Geneva,  Remember  the  eloquent  de- 
fence of  Jean- Jacques  Rousseau,  whose  book,  which 
aimed  to  overthrow  the  Catholic  religion,  was  written 
in  France,  published  in  Holland,  but  offered  for  sale 
in  Paris,  was  simply  burned  by  the  hangman,  and 
the  author,  a  foreigner,  simply  banished  from  the 
kingdom  where  he  had  tried  to  undermine  the  fun- 
damental verities  of  religion  and  lawful  authority — 
and  compare  the  conduct  of  Parliament  with  that 
of  the  Genevan  tyrant.  Lastly,  Bolsee  also  was 
brought  to  judgment  for  having  had  other  ideas  than 
Calvin's  concerning  predestination! — Weigh  these 
facts,   and    ask  yourself    if    Fouquier-Tinville  did 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  295 

worse.  The  savage  religious  intolerance  of  Calvin 
was,  morally  speaking,  more  intense,  more  implaca- 
ble, than  the  savage  political  intolerance  of  Robes- 
pierre. On  a  more  extensive  stage  than  Geneva, 
Calvin  would  have  shed  more  blood  than  was  shed 
by  the  redoubtable  apostle  of  political  equality 
assimilated  to  Catholic  equality.  Three  centuries 
earlier,  a  monk,  also  a  Picard,  had  led  the  whole 
West  in  a  descent  upon  the  East.  Peter  the  Hermit, 
Calvin,  and  Robespierre,  those  three  Picards,  three 
centuries  apart,  were,  politically  speaking,  the  levers 
of  Archimedes.  At  each  period,  an  idea  found  a 
support  in  selfish  interests  and  among  men. 

Calvin,  then,  was  unquestionably  the  father  of 
that  melancholy  city  called  Geneva,  where,  ten  years 
ago,  a  man  said,  pointing  to  a  porte-cochere  in  the 
upper  town,  the  first  ever  seen  in  Geneva — there 
had  previously  been  none  but  ordinary  front  doors: 
"  Through  that  door  luxury  entered  Geneva!"  Cal- 
vin, by  the  rigor  of  his  executions  and  the  harshness 
of  his  doctrine,  introduced  there  the  hypocritical 
practice  called  mummery.  To  have  good  morals, 
according  to  the  mummers,  consists  in  turning  one's 
back  on  the  arts  and  refinements  of  life,  in  eating 
copiously,  but  without  luxury,  and  in  silently  heap- 
ing up  money  without  enjoying  it  otherwise  than  as 
Calvin  enjoyed  his  power,  in  thought.  Calvin  gave 
to  all  his  fellow-citizens  the  same  dismal  livery  in 
which  he  clothed  his  whole  life.  In  the  consistory, 
he  had  created  a  genuine  Calvinist  tribunal  of  in- 
quisition, absolutely  like  Robespierre's  revolutionary 


296  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

tribunal.  The  consistory  turned  over  to  the  coun- 
cil the  persons  to  be  sentenced,  and  Calvin  reigned 
in  the  council  through  the  consistory  as  Robespierre 
reigned  in  the  Convention  through  the  Jacobins  club. 
For  instance,  an  eminent  magistrate  at  Geneva  was 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  two  months,  to  lose 
his  office,  and  be  disqualified  from  ever  holding  any 
other,  because  he  was  leading  an  irregular  life,  and 
had  entered  into  relations  with  Calvin's  enemies. 

Calvin  was  a  legislator  to  this  extent:  he  origi- 
nated the  strict,  sober,  bourgeois,  horribly  depress- 
ing but  irreproachable  manners  and  morals  which 
prevail  in  Geneva  to  this  day,  and  which  preceded 
the  English  type  of  manners,  universally  known 
by  the  name  of  Puritanism,  which  originated  with 
the  Cameronians,  disciples  of  Cameron,  one  of  the 
learned  Frenchmen  inspired  by  Calvin,  and  which 
Walter  Scott  has  so  well  depicted!  The  poverty  of 
a  man,  to  all  intent  a  sovereign,  who  treated  with 
kings  as  their  equal,  who  called  upon  them  for 
money  and  armies,  and  who  drew  freely  upon  their 
treasuries  for  the  poor  and  needy, — ^the  poverty  of 
such  a  man  proves  that  thought,  wielded  as  the  sole 
instrument  of  domination,  engenders  political  misers, 
men  who  enjoy  with  the  brain,  who,  like  the  Jesuits, 
crave  power  for  power's  sake.  Pitt,  Luther,  Calvin, 
Robespierre,  all  those  Harpagons  of  domination,  died 
without  a  sou.  The  inventory  made  at  Calvin's 
lodging,  after  his  death,  which,  including  his  books, 
amounted  to  fifty  crowns,  has  been  preserved  by  his- 
tory: Luther's  amounted  to  the  same  sum;  indeed, 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  297 

his  widow,  the  celebrated  Catherine  de  Bora,  was 
obliged  to  solicit  a  pension  of  a  hundred  crowns, 
which  was  allotted  to  her  by  an  elector  of  Germany. 
Potemkin,  Mazarin,  Richelieu,  those  men  of  thought 
and  action,  all  three  of  whom  created  or  paved  the 
way  for  empires,  left  three  hundred  millions  each. 
They  had  hearts,  they  loved  women  and  the  arts, 
they  constructed  and  conquered  ;  whereas,  with  the 
exception  of  Luther,  whose  wife  was  the  Helen  of 
that  Iliad,  none  of  the  others  had  to  reproach  them- 
selves for  a  single  quickened  heart-beat  occasioned 
by  a  woman. 

This  greatly  abridged  explanation  was  necessary 
to  make  clear  Calvin's  position  in  Geneva. 

In  the  early  days  of  February,  1561,  on  one  of 
those  mild  evenings  which  sometimes  occur  at  that 
season  on  Lake  Geneva,  two  horsemen  arrived  at 
the  Pre-l'Eveque,  so  called  from  the  former  country- 
house  of  the  Bishop  of  Geneva,  banished  thirty 
years  before.  These  two  men,  who  evidently  were 
familiar  with  the  laws  of  Geneva  concerning  the 
closing  of  the  gates, — ^then  very  necessary,  but 
extremely  absurd  to-day, — were  riding  toward  Porte 
de  Rives;  but  they  stopped  their  horses  abruptly  at 
sight  of  a  man  of  some  fifty  years,  who  was  walk- 
ing along  the  road,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  a  female 
servant,  and  was  plainly  returning  to  the  city;  he 
was  rather  stout,  and  walked  slowly  and  with  diffi- 
culty, not  raising  one  foot  until  the  other  was  on  the 
ground,  and  then  with  evident  pain,  for  he  wore 
round  laced  shoes  of  black  velvet. 


298  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

*'  It  is  he,"  said  Ciiaudieu  to  the  other  horseman, 
who  dismounted,  threw  his  rein  to  his  companion, 
and  advanced  with  open  arms  toward  the  pedes- 
trian. 

The  latter,  who  was,  in  fact,  Jean  Calvin,  drew 
back  to  avoid  the  embrace,  and  bestowed  a  glance 
of  exceeding  sternness  upon  his  disciple.  At  fifty 
years  of  age,  Calvin  seemed  seventy.  He  was 
short  and  stout,  and  seemed  all  the  shorter  because 
excruciating  suffering  from  calculus  compelled  him 
to  bend  double  when  he  walked.  His  suffering  from 
that  cause  was  intensified  by  attacks  of  gout  of 
the  most  malignant  character.  Any  man  would  have 
trembled  before  that  face,  almost  as  broad  as  long, 
upon  which,  despite  its  rotundity,  there  was  no 
more  indication  of  amiability  than  on  the  face  of  the 
monster  Henry  VIII.,  whom  Calvin  strongly  re- 
sembled ;  physical  pain,  which  gave  him  no  respite, 
was  betrayed  by  the  two  deep  wrinkles  starting 
from  the  nose  on  either  side,  following  the  curve  of 
the  moustaches,  and  merging  like  them  into  the  full 
gray  beard.  That  face,  although  generally  red  and 
inflamed  like  a  toper's,  was  marked  with  yellow 
patches;  but,  notwithstanding  the  black  velvet  cap 
which  covered  that  enormous  square  head,  one  was 
able  to  admire  a  forehead  of  vast  size  and  of  the 
most  perfect  shape,  beneath  which  gleamed  a  pair 
of  brown  eyes  which  emitted  genuine  flames  in 
his  paroxysms  of  wrath.  It  may  have  been  due  to 
his  obesity,  or  his  short,  full  neck,  or  because  of  his 
sleepless  nights  and  constant  toil,  that  Calvin's  head 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  299 

had  settled  between  his  broad  shoulders,  so  that  he 
could  wear  only  a  narrow  fluted  ruff,  above  which 
his  face  resembled  Saint  John  the  Baptist's  on  the 
charger.  Between  his  moustaches  and  his  beard, 
nestling  like  a  rose,  was  his  graceful,  eloquent 
mouth,  small  and  ruddy-lipped,  marvellously  perfect 
in  shape.  His  face  was  divided  by  a  square  nose, 
remarkable  for  its  flexibility  throughout  its  whole 
length,  and  with  a  significant  flatness  at  the  end,  in 
harmony  with  the  prodigious  mental  force  expressed 
by  that  imperial  head.  Although  it  was  difficult  to 
detect  in  those  features  traces  of  the  weekly  sick- 
headaches  which  attacked  Calvin  during  the  inter- 
vals of  a  slow  fever  by  which  he  was  consumed, 
physical  pain,  combated  by  study  and  will-power, 
gave  to  the  whole  face,  although  at  first  sight  florid, 
a  something  terrible  to  behold  ;  that  impression  was 
attributable  to  the  color  of  the  layer  of  fat  due  to  the 
sedentary  habits  of  the  indefatigable  worker,  and 
bearing  traces  of  the  constant  conflict  between  that 
valetudinarian  temperament  and  one  of  the  most 
powerful  wills  known  in  the  history  of  the  human 
mind.  Even  the  mouth,  charming  as  it  was,  wore 
an  expression  of  cruelty.  The  chastity  enjoined  by 
far-reaching  designs  and  exacted  by  a  tendency  to 
so  many  forms  of  disease,  was  written  upon  the 
face.  There  was  regret  in  the  serenity  of  that 
powerful  brow,  and  grief  in  the  expression  of  those 
eyes,  whose  tranquillity  was  terrifying. 

Calvin's  costume  threw  his  head  into  bold  relief, 
for  he  wore  the  famous  black  cloth  gown,  caught  in 


300  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

at  the  waist  by  a  belt  of  black  cloth  with  a  copper 
buckle,  which  became  the  regular  costume  of  Cal- 
vinist  ministers,  and  which,  offering  no  interest  to 
the  eye,  concentrated  the  attention  upon  its  wearer's 
face. 

"  I  am  in  too  great  pain  to  embrace  you,  Theo- 
dore," said  Calvin  to  the  dashing  cavalier. 

Theodore  de  Beze,  at  this  time  forty-two  years 
of  age,  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  bourgeoisie  of 
Geneva  two  years  before,  at  Calvin's  request,  pre- 
sented a  most  striking  contrast  to  the  awe-inspiring 
pastor  whom  he  had  made  his  sovereign.  Calvin, 
like  all  bourgeois  who  rise  to  moral  sovereignty,  or 
like  all  originators  of  social  systems,  was  consumed 
with  jealousy.  He  detested  his  disciples,  he  would 
have  no  equals,  he  would  not  endure  the  slightest 
contradiction.  But  there  was  so  much  difference 
between  himself  and  Theodore  de  B^ze;  that  fash- 
ionable cavalier,  with  his  attractive  face,  full  of  in- 
stinctive courtesy,  accustomed  to  frequent  courts, 
seemed  to  him  so  utterly  unlike  all  his  uncivilized 
janizaries,  that  with  him  he  laid  aside  his  usual  senti- 
ments; he  never  was  fond  of  him,  for  that  crabbed 
legislator  was  utterly  ignorant  of  the  meaning  of 
affection;  but  as  he  had  no  fear  of  finding  in  him 
a  would-be  successor,  he  liked  to  play  with  Theo- 
dore, as  Richelieu  at  a  later  period  played  with  his 
cat;  he  found  him  supple  and  cheerful.  Seeing  that 
De  Beze  met  with  signal  success  in  all  his  missions, 
he  became  attached  to  that  polished  instrument, 
whose   inspiration  and  guide   he   believed   himself 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  30I 

to  be;  so  true  is  it  that  even  the  most  unsociable 
men  cannot  do  without  a  semblance  of  affection. 
Theodore  was  Calvin's  spoiled  child;  the  stern  re- 
former did  not  scold  him,  he  overlooked  his  irregu- 
larities, his  amours,  his  fine  clothes,  and  his  refined 
speech.  Perhaps  Calvin  was  not  sorry  to  prove 
that  the  Reformed  religion  could  hold  its  own  in 
respect  of  graceful  manners  with  the  adherents  of 
the  court.  Theodore  de  B^ze  wished  to  inculcate 
at  Geneva  a  taste  for  art  and  literature  and  poetry, 
and  Calvin  listened  to  his  plans  without  drawing  his 
heavy  gray  eyebrows  together.  Thus  the  contrast 
in  disposition  and  person  between  the  two  men  was 
as  great  as  the  contrast  in  mental  force. 

Calvin  responded  to  Chaudieu's  very  humble  sal- 
utation with  a  slight  inclination  of  the  head.  Chau- 
dieu  passed  the  reins  of  both  horses  through  his  right 
arm  and  followed  those  two  great  lights  of  the  Refor- 
mation, walking  at  the  left  of  De  Beze,  who  had  Cal- 
vin on  his  right.  Calvin's  servant  ran  forward  to 
prevent  the  closing  of  the  Porte  de  Rives,  informing 
the  captain  of  the  guard  that  the  pastor  had  just  had 
a  very  severe  attack  of  pain. 

Theodore  de  Beze  was  a  son  of  the  commune  of 
Vezelay,  which  was  the  first  to  join  the  Confedera- 
tion; its  interesting  history  has  been  written  by  one 
of  the  Thierrys.  Thus  the  bourgeois  spirit  of  resist- 
ance, endemic  at  Vezelay,  contributed  its  share  in 
the  great  uprising  of  the  reformers,  in  the  person  of 
this  man,  who  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing figures  in  the  annals  of  heresy. 


302  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

"Are  you  still  suffering?"  Theodore  asked  Calvin. 

"A  Catholic  would  say  like  one  damned,"  replied 
the  reformer,  with  the  bitterness  which  he  injected 
into  his  lightest  words.  "Ah!  I  am  nearing  the 
end,  my  child !  And  what  will  become  of  you  with- 
out me?" 

"We  will  fight  on  by  the  light  from  your  lips!" 
said  Chaudieu. 

Calvin  smiled,  his  purple  face  assumed  a  gracious 
expression,  and  he  looked  favorably  upon  Chaudieu. 

"  Well,  have  you  any  news  for  me?"  he  continued. 
"  Have  they  massacred  many  of  our  friends?"  he 
asked,  smiling  and  exhibiting  a  mocking  joy  in  the 
gleam  of  his  brown  eyes. 

"  No,"  said  Chaudieu,  "  everything  is  at  peace." 

"  So  much  the  worse,  so  much  the  worse!"  cried 
Calvin.  "Pacification  in  any  form  would  be  an 
evil,  even  if  it  were  not  always  certain  to  be  a 
snare.  In  persecution  is  our  strength.  Where 
should  we  be  if  the  Church  should  swallow  up  the 
Reformed  religion?" 

"  Indeed,"  said  Theodore,  "  that  is  just  what  the 
queen-mother  seems  to  want  to  do." 

"  She  is  quite  capable  of  it,"  said  Calvin.  "  1  am 
studying  that  woman — " 

"  From  here?"  cried  Chaudieu. 

"  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  distance  for  the  mind?" 
rejoined  Calvin,  sternly,  regarding  the  interruption 
as  irreverent.  "  Catherine  craves  power,  and 
women  with  that  craving  have  neither  honor  nor 
faith.    What  is  in  the  wind?" 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  303 

*'Well,  she  suggests  a  sort  of  council,"  said  De 
Beze. 

"  In  the  neighborhood  of  Paris?"  inquired  Calvin, 
abruptly. 

"Yes!" 

"  Ah!  so  much  the  better!"  said  Calvin. 

"  And  we  will  try  to  come  to  an  understanding 
and  prepare  a  public  agreement  to  blend  the  two 
churches." 

"Ah!  if  she  had  the  courage  to  separate  the 
French  Church  from  the  court  of  Rome  and  to 
create  in  France  a  patriarch  as  in  the  Greek 
Church!"  cried  the  reformer,  his  eyes  gleaming 
at  the  idea,  which  would  make  it  possible  for  him 
to  ascend  a  throne.  "  But,  my  son,  can  the  niece 
of  a  pope  be  free  to  act?  she  wants  to  gain  time." 

"Do  we  not  need  time  to  repair  our  disaster  at 
Amboise  and  organize  a  formidable  resistance  at  all 
points  in  the  kingdom?" 

"  She  has  sent  away  the  Queen  of  Scotland," 
said  Chaudieu. 

"  One  less!"  said  Calvin,  as  they  passed  Porte  de 
Rives;  "  Elizabeth  of  England  will  hold  her  in  check 
for  us.  Two  queens  so  near  together  will  soon  be  at 
war:  one  is  beautiful,  and  the  other  decidedly  ugly, 
there's  one  source  of  irritation;  then  there's  the 
question  of  illegitimacy." 

He  rubbed  his  hands,  and  there  was  something  so 
ferocious  in  his  joy  that  De  Beze  shuddered;  for  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  of  blood  at  which  his 
master  had  been  gazing  for  a  moment. 


304  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

*•  The  Guises  have  angered  the  Bourbons,"  said 
De  B^ze,  after  a  pause,  "  they  had  a  falling-out  at 
Orleans." 

"Very  good,"  replied  Calvin;  "you  would  not 
believe  me,  my  son,  when,  at  the  time  of  your  last 
departure  for  Nerac,  I  told  you  that  we  should 
eventually  stir  up  a  war  to  the  death  between  the 
two  branches  of  the  royal  family  of  France !  At 
last,  I  have  a  court,  a  king,  a  family,  in  my  party. 
My  doctrine  has  produced  its  full  effect  on  the 
masses  now.  The  bourgeois  have  understood  me, 
henceforth  they  will  call  those  persons  idolaters  who 
attend  mass,  who  paint  the  walls  of  their  temples 
and  put  pictures  and  statues  in  them.  Ah!  it  is 
much  easier  for  the  people  to  demolish  cathedrals 
and  palaces  than  to  discuss  justification  by  faith  or 
the  real  presence!  Luther  was  a  disputant;  I  am  an 
army!  he  was  a  reasoner;  I  am  a  system!  In  fact, 
my  children,  he  was  merely  an  obstinate  fellow — 
taquin; — I  am  a  Tarquin!  Yes,  my  faithful  follow- 
ers shall  pull  down  churches,  they  shall  shatter 
pictures,  they  shall  make  millstones  out  of  statues, 
to  grind  the  wheat  of  the  people.  There  are  associa- 
tions of  men  in  all  states,  1  choose  that  there  shall 
be  only  individuals!  Associations  resist  too  much, 
and  see  clearly  where  formless  multitudes  are  blind  ! 
Now,  we  must  combine  with  this  militant  doctrine 
political  interests  which  will  solidify  it  and  supply 
the  material  of  my  armies.  I  have  satisfied  the  logical 
arguments  of  economical  minds,  and  the  brains  of 
thinkers,  by  the  naked,  unadorned  worship  which 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  JOJ 

transports  religion  into  the  world  of  ideas.  I  have 
convinced  the  common  people  of  the  benefits  of  the 
suppression  of  ceremonies.  It  is  for  you,  Theodore, 
to  enlist  selfish  interests.  Do  not  go  beyond  that. 
Everything  is  done,  everything  is  said  now,  so  far 
as  the  doctrine  is  concerned;  do  not  add  to  it  one 
iota!  Why  does  Cameron,  that  humble  Gascon 
pastor,  meddle  with  writing?" 

Calvin,  De  B^ze,  and  Chaudieu  were  climbing  the 
streets  of  the  upper  city  amid  the  throng  of  passers, 
and  the  throng  paid  no  attention  to  those  men  who 
unloosed  the  passions  of  the  throngs  of  other  cities 
and  ravaged  France!  After  that  terrifying  tirade, 
they  walked  on  in  silence  to  the  small  Place  Saint- 
Pierre,  and  across  it  to  the  pastor's  house.  On  the 
second  floor  of  that  house,  which  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  famous,  and  of  which  no  one  ever  speaks  now 
in  Geneva, — where,  by  the  way,  there  is  no  statue 
of  Calvin, — were  his  lodgings,  consisting  of  three 
rooms  with  spruce  floors  and  wainscoting,  and  the 
kitchen  and  maid-servant's  room  adjoining.  The 
entrance,  as  in  most  of  the  bourgeois  houses  of 
Geneva,  was  through  the  kitchen,  from  which  you 
entered  a  small  room  with  two  windows,  used  as 
reception-room,  salon,  and  dining-room.  The  study, 
where  Calvin's  mind  had  struggled  with  physical 
pain  for  fourteen  years,  came  next,  and  the  bedroom 
next  to  that.  Four  oak  chairs  covered  with  tapestry 
and  placed  about  a  large  square  tab'le  comprised  all 
the  furniture  of  the  salon.  A  white  porcelain  stove 
in  a  corner  of  the  room  gave  forth  a  gentle  warmth. 
20 


306  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

The  walls  were  sheathed  in  unpainted  spruce,  with 
no  attempt  at  decoration.  Thus  the  bareness  of  liis 
dwelling  harmonized  with  the  great  reformer's  sober, 
simple  life. 

"  Well,"  said  De  B^ze,  as  they  entered  the  house, 
taking  advantage  of  Chaudieu's  leaving  them  alone 
while  he  took  the  two  horses  to  an  inn  near  by, 
"what  am  I  to  do?  Do  you  agree  to  the  confer- 
ence.?" 

"Assuredly,"  said  Calvin.  "You,  my  son,  must 
do  the  fighting  there.  Be  concise  and  unyielding. 
We  none  of  us,  neither  the  queen,  nor  the  Guises, 
nor  myself,  propose  that  it  shall  result  in  any  paci- 
fication which  is  not  satisfactory  to  our  respective 
selves.  I  have  confidence  in  Duplessis-Mornay,  we 
must  give  him  the  leading  r61e.  We  are  alone,"  he 
said,  casting  a  suspicious  glance  into  the  kitchen, 
the  door  of  which  was  ajar,  disclosing  two  shirts  and 
several  collars  hanging  on  a  line  to  dry.  "  Go  and 
close  all  the  doors. — Well,"  he  continued,  when 
Theodore  had  done  so,  "  we  must  induce  the  King 
of  Navarre  to  join  the  Guises  and  the  constable  by 
advising  him  to  abandon  Queen  Catherine  de'  Medici. 
Let  us  reap  all  the  benefit  we  can  from  the  weakness 
of  that  pitiful  monarch.  If  he  turns  his  back  on  the 
Italian,  she,  when  she  finds  that  she  has  lost  that 
support,  will  necessarily  join  the  Prince  de  Conde  and 
Coligny.  Perhaps  this  manoeuvre  will  compromise 
her  so  completely  that  she  will  remain  with  us." 

Theodore  de  B^ze  lifted  the  skirt  of  Calvin's  coat 
and  kissed  it. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  307 

**  O  my  master,"  he  said,  "  how  grand  you  are  !" 

"  Unfortunately,  I  am  dying,  dear  Theodore.  If  I 
should  die  without  seeing  you  again,"  he  said  in  a 
low  voice  and  in  the  ear  of  his  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  "  remember  that  there  is  a  mighty  blow  to  be 
struck  by  one  of  our  martyrs!" 

"Another  Minard  to  be  killed?" 

"  Something  more  than  a  pettifogging  lawyer." 

"A  king?" 

"  Better  still!  a  man  who  wants  to  be  king." 

"  The  Due  de  Guise!"  exclaimed  Theodore,  with 
an  involuntary  gesture  of  dismay. 

"Even  so,"  cried  Calvin,  fancying  that  he  detected 
signs  of  refusal  or  opposition,  and  not  noticing  Chau- 
dieu's  entrance,  "  have  we  not  the  right  to  strike  as 
we  are  struck?  in  darkness  and  in  silence?  May  we 
not  return  wound  for  wound,  death  for  death?  Will 
the  Catholics  ever  lose  an  opportunity  to  lay  snares 
for  us  and  massacre  us?  I  hardly  think  it!  Burn 
their  churches!  on  with  the  work,  my  children.  If 
you  have  any  young  men  devoted  to  the  cause — " 

"  I  have,"  said  Chaudieu. 

"  Use  them  as  instruments  of  war!  our  triumph 
will  justify  any  means.  Le  Balafre,  that  formidable 
warrior,  is,  like  myself,  more  than  a  man  ;  as  I  am 
a  system,  he  is  a  dynasty,  and  he  is  capable  of  anni- 
hilating us!     Therefore,  death  to  the  Lorrainer!" 

"  I  should  prefer  a  peaceful  victory,  brought  about 
by  time  and  by  argument,"  said  De  B^ze. 

"  By  time?"  shouted  Calvin,  overturning  his  chair, 
**  by  argument?    Why,  are  you  mad?    Argument! 


308  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

argument  make  a  conquest!  Do  you,  then,  who  deal 
with  men,  know  nothing  of  them,  fool?  The  very 
thing  that  injures  my  doctrine,  triple  idiot,  is  that  it 
is  easily  enforced  by  argument.  By  the  lightning  of 
Saint  Paul,  by  the  sword  of  the  Strong,  do  you  not 
see,  Theodore,  pumpkin-head  that  you  are,  what  an 
impulse  was  given  to  my  Reform  by  the  catastrophe 
of  Amboise?  Ideas  do  not  grow  unless  they  are 
watered  with  blood !  The  assassination  of  the  Due 
de  Guise  would  lead  to  a  horrible  persecution,  and  I 
pray  for  it  with  all  my  strength!  Defeat  is  preferable 
to  success.  The  Reform  has  its  methods  of  inviting 
defeat,  do  you  understand,  donkey.?  whereas  Ca- 
tholicism is  doomed  if  we  win  a  single  battle.  But 
what  are  my  lieutenants.-' — damp  rags  instead  of 
men!  stomachs  on  two  legs!  baptized  baboons!  O 
my  God,  wilt  Thou  give  me  ten  years  more  of  life.? 
If  I  die  too  soon,  the  cause  of  the  true  religion  is  lost 
in  the  hands  of  such  dolts!  You  are  as  great  a  fool 
as  Antoine  de  Navarre!  go,  leave  me,  I  must  have 
a  better  negotiator!  You  are  naught  but  an  ass,  a 
coxcomb,  a  poet!  go  and  make  your  imitations  of 
Catullus  and  Tibullus,  and  your  acrostics!  Away 
with  you!" 

The  torture  of  the  calculus  was  entirely  van- 
quished by  the  flames  of  his  wrath.  The  gout  held 
its  peace  before  that  terrible  excitement.  Calvin's 
face  was  streaked  with  purple,  like  a  tempestuous 
sky.  His  vast  brow  glistened.  His  eyes  flashed 
fire.  He  was  entirely  unlike  himself.  He  aban- 
doned himself  to  that  species  of  epileptic  frenzy, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  309 

full  of  wild  rage,  which  was  a  common  occurrence 
with  him ;  but,  being  impressed  by  the  silence  of  his 
two  hearers,  and  observing  Chaudieu  as  he  whis- 
pered to  De  B^ze:  "  The  Burning  Bush  of  Horeb!" 
he  ceased  to  speak,  sank  into  a  chair,  and  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands,  whose  knotted  veins 
throbbed  visibly  despite  their  thickness. 

A  few  moments  later,  still  shuddering  in  the  last 
blasts  of  that  tempest  engendered  by  the  chastity  of 
his  life,  he  said  to  them,  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
emotion: 

"  My  vices,  which  are  numerous,  cost  me  less  to 
overcome  than  my  impatience!  Ah!  savage  beast, 
shall  I  never  ■  conquer  you?"  he  added,  striking  his 
breast. 

"  My  dear  master,"  said  De  B^ze,  in  a  sooth- 
ing voice,  and  taking  his  hands,  which  he  kissed, 
"  Jupiter  thunders,  but  he  knows  how  to  smile." 

Calvin  gazed  at  his  disciple  with  a  softened  ex- 
pression, and  said  to  him: 

"  Try  to  understand  me,  my  friends." 

"  I  understand  that  the  shepherds  of  whole  peoples 
have  to  carry  terrible  burdens,"  replied  Theodore. 
"You  have  a  world  on  your  shoulders." 

"I  have,"  said  Chaudieu,  whom  the  master's 
diatribe  had  rendered  thoughtful,  "  I  have  three 
martyrs  upon  whom  we  can  rely.  Stuart,  who 
killed  the  president,  is  at  liberty — " 
■  '*  Nay!"  said  Calvin,  gently,  smiling  like  all  great 
men  when  they  bring  back  fair  weather  to  their 
faces,  as  if  they  were  ashamed  of  having  allowed 


3IO  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  storm  to  rage  there.  "  I  know  mankind.  A 
man  may  kill  one  president,  but  he  doesn't  kill 
two." 

"  Is  this  step  absolutely  necessary.?"  said  De 
B§ze. 

"Again.?"  said  Calvin,  inflating  his  nostrils. 
"  Nay,  leave  me,  you  will  drive  me  into  a  frenzy 
again.  Go  hence  with  my  decision.  Do  you, 
Chaudieu,  follow  the  path  you  are  now  following, 
and  maintain  your  flock  in  Paris.  May  God  guide 
you! — Dinah!  light  my  friends  to  the  street." 

"  Will  you  not  permit  me  to  embrace  you?"  said 
De  B^ze,  with  deep  emotion.  "  Which  of  us  can 
know  what  may  happen  to-morrow?  We  may  be 
arrested  notwithstanding  our  safe-conducts — " 

"And  yet  you  would  spare  them?"  queried 
Calvin,  embracing  him. 

He  took  Chaudieu's  hand. 

"  Above  all  things,"  he  said,  "  no  Huguenots,  no 
reformers!  be  Calvinists!  Speak  of  Calvinism  only! 
Alas!  this  is  not  ambition,  for  I  am  dying!  but  we 
must  destroy  every  vestige  of  Luther,  even  to  the 
words  Lutheran  and  Lutheranism." 

"But,  O  divine  man,"  said  Chaudieu,  "  well  do 
you  merit  such  honor!" 

"  Uphold  the  uniformity  of  the  doctrine,  allow  no 
more  examination  or  remodelling.  We  are  lost  if 
new  sects  go  forth  from  our  bosom." 

Anticipating  for  a  moment  the  occurrences  with 
which  this  Study  is  concerned,  and  in  order  to  have 
done  with  Theodore  de  B^ze,  who  went  to  Paris  with 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  311 

Chaudieu,  we  will  remark  that  Poitrot,  who  dis- 
charged a  pistol  at  the  Due  de  Guise  eighteen  months 
later,  confessed  under  torture  that  he  had  been  incited 
to  that  crime  by  Theodore  de  B^ze;  he  retracted  that 
confession,  however,  during  the  subsequent  tortures. 
So  that  Bossuet,  after  weighing  all  the  historical 
arguments,  did  not  consider  that  the  conception  of 
that  crime  should  be  charged  to  Theodore  de  Bdze. 
But,  since  Bossuet's  time,  a  dissertation,  at  first 
sight  of  trivial  importance,  on  the  subject  of  a 
famous  chanson,  has  led  a  compiler  of  the  eighteenth 
century  to  prove  that  the  chanson  on  the  death  of 
the  Due  de  Guise,  which  was  sung  throughout 
France  by  the  Huguenots,  was  the  work  of  Theo- 
dore de  B^ze,  and  it  was  proved  at  the  same  time 
that  the  famous  lament  upon  Marlborough  was  pla- 
giarized from  the  one  written  by  Theodore  de  B^ze.* 

*  See  the  note  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


On  the  day  when  Theodore  de  B^ze  and  Chau- 
dieu  reached  Paris,  the  court  returned  thither  from 
Reims,  where  Charles  IX.  had  been  crowned.  That 
ceremony,  which,  under  Catherine's  direction,  was 
made  very  imposing  and  the  occasion  of  magnificent 
f^tes,  had  enabled  her  to  assemble  the  leaders  of  all 
parties  about  her.  After  studying  all  the  different 
conflicting  interests  and  parties,  she  was  at  liberty 
to  choose  between  these  alternatives:  either  to  en- 
list them  all  in  support  of  the  throne,  or  to  oppose 
them  to  one  another.  The  Connetable  de  Mont- 
morency, Catholic  of  Catholics,  whose  nephew,  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  was  the  leader  of  the  party  of 
the  Reformation,  and  whose  sons  were  inclined  to 
that  religion,  inveighed  against  the  queen-mother's 
alliance  with  the  reformers.  On  their  side,  the 
Guises  were  endeavoring  to  win  over  Antoine  de 
Bourbon,  a  prince  devoid  of  character,  and  to  enlist 
him  in  their  party;  with  which  attempt  his  wife,  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  being  warned  by  De  Beze,  did 
not  interfere.  These  obstacles  made  an  impression 
on  Catherine,  whose  newly-born  authority  needed 
a  period  of  tranquillity;  so  she  awaited  impatiently 
the  reply  of  Calvin,  to  whom  Chaudieu  and  De  Beze 
had  been  sent  by  the  Prince  de  Conde,  the  King 
of  Navarre,  Coligny,  D'Andelot,  and  the  Cardinal 
de  Chatillon.  But  the  queen-mother,  meanwhile, 
(313) 


314  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

was  true  to  her  promises  to  the  Prince  de  Conde. 
The  chancellor  put  an  end  to  the  procedure  against 
Christophe,  by  transferring  the  cause  to  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris,  which  quashed  the  judgment  of 
the  commission  by  declaring  it  to  be  powerless  to 
try  a  prince  of  the  blood.  At  the  solicitation  of  the 
Guises  and  the  queen-mother,  the  Parliament  began 
the  prosecution  anew.  The  papers  taken  from  La 
Sagne  had  been  handed  to  Catherine,  who  burned 
them.  The  delivery  of  those  papers  was  the  first 
pledge,  fruitlessly  given  the  queen-mother  by  the 
Guises.  The  Parliament,  finding  the  proofs  unsat- 
isfactory, restored  the  prince  to  all  his  privileges, 
property,  and  honors.  Christophe,  who  was  set  free 
at  the  time  of  the  excitement  at  Orleans  on  the 
king's  accession,  was  acquitted  at  once,  and,  in 
recompense  for  his  sufferings,  was  admitted  as  an 
advocate  to  the  Parliament  through  the  exertions  of 
Monsieur  de  Thou. 

The  triumvirate,  that  future  coalition  of  interests 
menaced  by  Catherine's  first  acts,  was  in  process 
of  formation  under  her  eyes.  Just  as  in  chemistry 
hostile  substances  always  part  at  the  first  shock 
which  disturbs  their  forced  union,  so  in  politics  an 
alliance  of  opposing  interests  is  always  of  brief  dura- 
tion. Catherine  fully  realized  that,  sooner  or  later, 
she  would  certainly  return  to  the  Guises  and  the 
constable  to  join  forces  with  them  against  the  Hu- 
guenots. The  proposed  conference,  which  tickled 
the  self-esteem  of  the  orators  of  all  parties,  which 
was  intended  to  provide  an  imposing  ceremony  to 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  315 

follow  that  of  the  coronation,  and  to  distract  atten- 
tion from  the  bloody  carpet  of  the  religious  war 
already  inaugurated,  was  quite  useless  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Guises  as  well  as  in  Catherine's.  The  Cath- 
olics would  be  the  losers,  for  the  Huguenots,  on  the 
pretext  of  conferring,  would  seize  the  opportunity 
to  proclaim  their  doctrine  in  the  face  of  all  France, 
under  the  protection  of  the  king  and  his  mother. 
The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  cajoled  by  Catherine 
with  the  idea  of  vanquishing  the  heretics  by  the 
eloquence  of  the  princes  of  the  Church,  persuaded 
his  brother  to  consent.  Six  months  of  peace  were 
a  great  boon  to  the  queen-mother. 

A  trivial  occurrence  was  very  near  compromising 
this  power  which  Catherine  was  building  up  so 
laboriously.  The  following  scene,  handed  down  by 
historians,  occurred  on  the  very  day  when  the  en- 
voys from  Geneva  arrived  at  Coligny's  house  on 
Rue  Bethisy,  near  the  Louvre.  At  the  coronation 
ceremony,  Charles  IX.,  who  was  very  fond  of 
Amyot,  his  tutor,  appointed  him  Grand  Almoner 
of  France.  This  affection  was  shared  by  the  Due 
d'Anjou,  afterward  Henri  IIL,  Amyot's  other  pupil. 
During  the  journey  from  Reims  to  Paris,  Catherine 
was  informed  of  this  appointment  by  the  Gondis.  She 
counted  upon  that  office  in  the  gift  of  the  crown  to  ob- 
tain a  firm  supporter  in  the  Church  in  order  to  have 
somebody  to  oppose  to  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine;  she 
intended  to  bestow  it  upon  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon, 
in  order  to  have  in  him,  as  in  L'HSpital,  a  second 
crutch;  such  was  the  phrase  she  used.   On  arriving 


3l6  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

at  the  Louvre,  she  sent  for  the  tutor.  Her  wrath 
was  so  great  when  she  saw  the  havoc  wrought  in 
her  policy  by  the  ambition  of  that  upstart  cobbler's 
son,  that  she  addressed  him  in  strange  words,  which 
are  repeated  by  some  memoir-writers: 

"  What!  I  make  the  Guises,  the  Colignys,  the 
constables,  the  House  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  de 
Conde  eat  dirt,  and  I  must  have  around  my  neck  a 
miserable  little  priest  like  you,  who  won't  be  satis- 
fied with  the  bishopric  of  Auxerre!" 

Amyot  apologized.  In  truth,  he  had  not  asked  for 
anything;  the  king,  of  his  own  free  will,  had  honored 
him  with  that  post  of  which  he,  a  poor  tutor,  deemed 
himself  unworthy. 

"  Rest  assured,  master,"  replied  Catherine, — such 
was  the  title  which  Charles  IX.  and  Henri  III.  gave 
to  that  great  author, — "that  you  won't  be  on  your 
feet  twenty-four  hours  hence  if  you  don't  make 
your  pupil  change  his  mind." 

Between  death,  threatened  with  so  little  circumlo- 
cution, and  resignation  of  the  most  considerable  ec- 
clesiastical office  under  the  crown,  the  cobbler's  son, 
who  had  become  very  covetous  and  perhaps  cher- 
ished the  ambition  to  wear  a  cardinal's  hat,  adopted 
a  temporizing  policy;  he  went  into  hiding  in  the 
abbey  of  Saint-Germain.  At  his  very  first  dinner, 
Charles  IX.  missed  Amyot,  and  asked  for  him.  Some 
Guisard  probably  informed  the  king  of  what  had 
taken  place  between  Amyot  and  the  queen-mother. 

*'  What!  has  he  been  put  out  of  sight  because  I 
made  him  grand  almoner?"  he  asked. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  317 

He  went  to  his  mother's  apartments  in  the  violent 
frame  of  mind  into  which  children  are  always  thrown 
when  one  of  their  caprices  is  thwarted. 

"Madame,"  he  inquired,  as  he  entered,  "did  I 
not  unhesitatingly  sign  the  letter  which  you  asked 
me  to  sign  for  the  Parliament — the  letter  by  virtue 
of  which  you  are  to  govern  my  kingdom?  Did  you 
not  promise  me,  when  you  handed  it  to  me,  that  my 
will  should  be  yours?  and  yet  the  only  favor  I  have 
cared  to  bestow  arouses  your  jealousy!  The  chan- 
cellor talks  of  having  me  declared  of  age  at  fourteen, 
three  years  from  now,  and  you  choose  to  treat  me 
like  a  baby.  I  will  be  king,  by  God  !  and  king  as 
my  father  and  grandfather  were!" 

The  tone  in  which  her  son  spoke,  and  his  manner, 
were  a  revelation  to  Catherine  of  his  true  character; 
it  was  as  if  she  had  received  a  blow  in  the  breast. 

"  He  speaks  thus  to  me,  to  me  who  made  him 
king!"  she  thought. — "  Monsieur,"  she  replied,  "  the 
office  of  king  is  a  very  difficult  one  in  these  days,  and 
you  are  unacquainted  as  yet  with  the  master-minds 
with  whom  you  have  to  deal.  You  will  never  have 
any  other  candid  and  reliable  friend  than  your  mother, 
other  retainers  than  those  who  have  been  long  at- 
tached to  her  service,  and  except  for  whose  efforts 
you  might  not  be  alive  to-day.  The  Guises  have 
designs  upon  your  crown  and  your  person  alike, 
mark  that.  If  they  could  sew  me  up  in  a  sack  and 
toss  me  into  yonder  river,"  she  said,  waving  her 
hand  toward  the  Seine,  "  it  would  be  done  to-night. 
These  Lorraines  feel  that  I  am  the  lioness  defending 


3l8  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

her  whelps,  who  thrusts  back  the  hands  which 
they  presumptuously  reach  out  for  the  crown.  For 
whom,  for  'iyhat  does  your  tutor  stand?  where  are 
his  alliances?  what  influence  has  he?  what  services 
will  he  render  you?  what  weight  will  his  words 
have?  Instead  of  propping  up  your  power,  you 
have  weakened  it.  The  Cardinal  de  Lorraine 
threatens  you,  he  plays  the  king,  he  keeps  his  hat 
on  his  head  in  presence  of  the  first  prince  of  the 
blood;  was  it  not  of  the  utmost  importance,  there- 
fore, to  oppose  to  him  another  cardinal  endowed 
with  authority  superior  to  his?  Will  Amyot,  this 
cobbler,  capable  of  nothing  more  than  tying  his 
shoestrings,  be  the  man  to  break  a  lance  with  him? 
However,  you  are  fond  of  Amyot,  you  have  ap- 
pointed him!  let  your  first  wish  be  gratified,  mon- 
sieur! But  hereafter,  before  making  up  your  mind, 
consult  me  in  all  friendliness.  Heed  reasons  of 
State,  and  your  boyish  good  sense  will  perhaps 
come  to  the  same  decision  as  my  long  experience, 
when  you  know  the  difficulties  that  lie  in  your 
path." 

"You  will  give  me  back  my  master!"  said  the 
king,  who  had  not  listened  overcarefully  to  his 
mother,  seeing  only  reproof  in  her  rejoinder. 

"Yes,  you  shall  have  him,"  she  replied.  "But 
neither  he  nor  that  brutal  Cypierre  will  teach  you 
how  to  reign." 

"You  shall  do  that,  mother,"  he  said,  mollified 
by  his  triumph  and  laying  aside  the  threatening, 
sullen  expression  which  his  features  naturally  wore. 


CATHERI^fE  DE'  MEDICI  319 

Catherine  sent  Condi  in  search  of  the  new  grand 
almoner.  When  the  Florentine  had  discovered 
Amyot's  retreat,  and  the  bishop  had  been  told  that 
the  courtier  was  sent  by  the  queen,  he  was  terror- 
stricken  and  would  not  leave  the  abbey.  In  that 
extremity,  Catherine  was  obliged  to  write  to  the 
tutor  herself  in  such  terms  that  he  returned  and 
received  the  assurance  of  her  protection,  but  only 
on  condition  that  he  would  follow  her  instructions 
blindly  in  his  relations  with  Charles  IX. 

This  little  domestic  hurricane  having  blown  over, 
Catherine,  who  had  been  absent  from  the  Louvre 
more  than  a  year,  took  counsel  with  her  friends  as 
to  the  course  of  conduct  to  be  adopted  with  the 
young  king,  whom  Cypierre  had  complimented  upon 
his  firmness. 

"What  is  to  be  done?" — She  propounded  the 
question  to  the  Gondis,  Ruggieri,  Birague,  and  Chi- 
verni,  recently  appointed  governor  and  chancellor  to 
the  Due  de  Anjou. 

"  First  of  all,"  said  Birague,  "  replace  Cypierre. 
He  is  no  courtier,  he  would  never  accede  to  your 
views,  and  would  think  that  the  proper  discharge  of 
his  functions  required  him  to  thwart  you." 

"  Whom  can  I  trust?"  exclaimed  the  queen. 

"  One  of  us,"  said  Birague. 

"Faith,"  said  Condi,  "I  will  promise  to  make 
the  king  as  easy  to  handle  as  the  King  of  Navarre." 

"  You  allowed  the  late  king  to  die  in  order  to 
save  your  other  children;  now  do  as  the  great  noble- 
men do  at  Constantinople — simply  make  this  one's 


320  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

fits  of  temper  and  his  caprices  of  no  consequence," 
said  Albert  de  Gondi.  "  He  loves  art,  poetry,  hunt- 
ing, and  a  little  girl  whom  he  saw  at  Orleans;  these 
are  quite  enough  to  occupy  his  thoughts." 

"So  you  would  like  to  be  the  king's  governor, 
eh?"  said  Catherine  to  the  abler  of  the  two  Gondis. 

"  If  you  choose  to  give  me  the  authority  essential 
for  a  governor,  perhaps  it  will  be  necessary  to  make 
me  a  marshal  of  France  and  a  duke.  Cypierre  is 
too  insignificant  a  man  to  continue  to  fill  that  place. 
Hereafter,  the  governor  of  a  king  of  France  should 
be  a  marshal  and  a  duke,  or  something  equivalent 
to  that." 

"  He  is  right,"  said  Birague. 

"  Poet  and  sportsman,"  said  Catherine,  in  a 
musing  tone. 

"  We  will  hunt  and  we  will  love!"  cried  Gondi. 

**  At  all  events,"  said  Chiverni,  "  you  are  sure  of 
Amyot,  who  will  always  be  afraid  of  poison  in  case 
he  disobeys  you,  and  with  Gondi  you  will  hold  the 
king  in  leash." 

"  You  were  resigned  to  the  loss  of  one  son  to  save 
your  other  three  sons  and  the  crown,  and  you  must 
have  the  courage  to  keep  this  one  occupied,  in  order 
to  save  the  kingdom,  perhaps  to  save  yourself,"  said 
Ruggieri. 

"  He  has  seriously  offended  me,"  said  Catherine. 

"  He  does  not  know  all  that  he  owes  you;  and 
if  he  did  know  it,  you  would  be  in  danger,"  ob- 
served Birague,  in  all  seriousness,  dwelling  on  the 
words. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  321 

"  It  is  agreed,"  rejoined  Catherine,  upon  whom 
that  remark  produced  a  very  pronounced  effect, 
"you  shall  be  the  king's  governor,  Condi.  The 
king  must  certainly  repay  me  for  my  assent  to  his 
bestowing  a  favor  on  that  flat-footed  bishop,  by 
doing  something  for  one  of  my  friends.  That  knave 
Amyot  has  lost  his  cardinal's  hat;  yes,  as  long  as  I 
live  I  will  oppose  the  Pope's  putting  it  on  his  head  ! 
We  should  have  been  very  strong  with  the  Cardinal 
de  Tournon  on  our  side.  What  a  trio  the  grand 
almoner,  L'Hopital,  and  De  Thou  would  have  made! 
As  for  the  bourgeois  of  Paris,  1  am  devising  a  method 
by  which  my  son  may  wheedle  them,  and  we  shall 
find  a  sure  support  in  them." 

Condi  actually  became  a  marshal,  was  created  Due 
de  Retz,  and  appointed  governor  to  the  king  a  few 
days  thereafter. 

As  this  little  council  came  to  an  end,  the  Cardinal 
de  Tournon  announced  to  the  queen  the  envoys  of 
Calvin;  Admiral  Coligny  accompanied  them  to  en- 
sure them  respectful  treatment  at  the  Louvre.  The 
queen  at  once  summoned  her  redoubtable  body-guard 
of  maids  of  honor  and  passed  into  the  reception-hall, 
built  by  her  husband,  which  does  not  exist  in  the 
Louvre  of  to-day. 

In  those  days,  the  stairway  of  the  Louvre  was  in 
the  Tour  de  I'Horloge.  Catherine's  apartments 
were  in  the  old  buildings,  which  are  still  standing, 
in  part,  on  the  courtyard  of  the  Musee.  The  present 
staircase  of  the  Musee  was  built  on  the  site  of  the 
salle  des  ballets.     A   ballet  at  that  period  was  a 


322  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

species   of   dramatic   entertainment   in   which   the 
whole  court  participated. 

The  passions  aroused  by  the  Revolution  caused 
credit  to  be  given  to  a  most  laughable  error  con- 
cerning Charles  IX.,  apropos  of  the  Louvre.  Dur- 
ing the  Revolution,  a  popular  belief  adverse  to 
that  king,  whose  character  was  misrepresented, 
made  him  a  perfect  monster.  Chenier's  tragedy 
was  written  under  the  influence  of  an  inscription 
placed  upon  the  window  of  the  projecting  portion  of 
the  Louvre  on  the  side  of  the  quay.  It  consisted 
of  these  words:  "//  was  from  this  wijidow  tJiat 
Charles  IX.,  of  execrable  memory,  fired  upon  French 
citizens." — It  is  fitting  to  remind  future  historians 
and  sober-minded  persons  that  all  that  part  of  tlie 
Louvre  which  is  to-day  called  the  old  Louvre,  and 
which  projects  like  a  hatchet  on  the  quay,  connect- 
ing the  salon  with  the  Louvre  by  the  so-called  Apollo 
gallery,  and  the  Louvre  with  the  Tuileries  by  the 
halls  of  the  Musee,  did  not  exist  under  Charles  IX. 
The  greater  part  of  the  site  of  the  present  fajade  on 
the  quay,  and  of  the  so-called  Garden  of  the  Infanta, 
was  occupied  by  the  Hotel  de  Bourbon,  belonging  to 
the  House  of  Navarre.  It  was  physically  impossible 
for  Charles  IX.  to  fire  from  the  Louvre,  as  it  was 
under  Henri  II.,  upon  a  boatload  of  Huguenots  crossing 
the  river,  or  even  to  see  the  Seine  from  the  windows, 
now  walled-up,  of  that  edifice.  Even  if  scholars  and 
libraries  did  not  possess  maps  on  which  the  Louvre 
under  Charles  IX.  is  accurately  represented,  the 
monument  itself  bears  the  refutation  of  this  error. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  323 

All  the  kings  who  have  co-operated  in  building  that 
vast  pile  have  invariably  left  upon  it  their  cipher  or 
an  anagram  of  some  sort.  Now,  that  venerable  and 
to-day  blackened  portion  of  the  Louvre,  which  looks 
upon  the  Garden  of  the  Infanta  and  projects  upon  the 
quay,  bears  the  ciphers  of  Henri  III.  and  Henri  IV., 
which  are  very  different  from  Henri  II. 's,  who  united 
his  H  with  the  two  C's  of  Catherine,  forming  a  sort 
of  D  which  misleads  superficial  observers.  Henri  IV, 
was  able  to  add  his  Hotel  de  Bourbon,  with  its  gar- 
dens and  appurtenances,  to  the  Louvre  domain.  He 
first  conceived  the  idea  of  joining  Catherine  de' 
Medici's  palace  to  the  Louvre  by  means  of  its  unfin- 
ished galleries,  whose  valuable  carvings  have  been 
sadly  neglected.  Even  if  the  plan  of  Paris  as  it  was 
under  Charles  IX.  and  the  ciphers  of  Henry  III. 
or  Henri  IV.  did  not  exist,  the  difference  in  archi- 
tecture would  unsparingly  contradict  the  calumny. 
The  vermiculated  protuberances  of  the  Hotel  de 
la  Force,  and  of  that  part  of  the  Louvre,  mark  the 
transition  from  the  so-called  Renaissance  architec- 
ture to  the  architectural  style  in  fashion  under 
Henri  III.,  Henri  IV.,  and  Louis  XIII. — This  arch«- 
ological  digression,  which,  by  the  way,  is  in  the 
same  line  with  the  descriptions  with  which  this 
narrative  begins,  enables  us  to  form  an  idea  of  the 
real  appearance  of  that  other  corner  of  Paris,  of 
which  nothing  exists  to-day  save  the  portion  to 
which  we  refer,  where  the  superb  bas-reliefs  are 
deteriorating  day  by  day. 

When  the  court  learned  that  the  queen  was  about 


324  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

to  give  audience  to  Theodore  de  B^ze  and  Chaudieu, 
introduced  by  Admiral  de  Coligny,  all  those  courtiers 
who  were  entitled  to  enter  the  hall  of  audience 
hastened  thither  in  order  to  witness  the  interview. 
It  was  then  about  six  o'clock;  the  admiral  had  just 
supped,  and  was  picking  his  teeth  as  he  ascended 
the  staircase  of  the  Louvre  between  the  two  re- 
formers. The  constant  handling  of  a  toothpick  had 
grown  to  be  an  incurable  habit  in  the  admiral,  and 
he  would  use  one  upon  all  his  teeth,  one  after  another, 
while  meditating  a  retreat  on  the  battle-field. — Dis- 
trust the  admiral's  toothpick,  the  constable's  "tio" 
and  Catherine's  "yes,"  was  a  proverbial  expression 
of  the  time  at  court.  At  the  time  of  the  Saint  Bar- 
tholomew, the  populace  perpetrated  a  ghastly  epi- 
gram on  Coligny's  dead  body,  which  lay  for  three 
days  at  Montfaucon,  by  inserting  a  mammoth  tooth- 
pick between  his  teeth.  The  chroniclers  thought 
that  shocking  jest  worthy  to  be  recorded.  That 
trivial  act  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  catastrophe  well 
depicts  the  character  of  the  Parisian  populace,  which 
abundantly  deserves  the  jocose  quip  in  Boileau's 
line: 

"  The  Frenchman,  bom  mischievous,  created  the  guillotine." 

At  all  times,  the  Parisian  has  cracked  jokes  before, 
during,  and  after  the  most  horrible  revolutions. 

Theodore  de  B^ze  was  dressed  like  a  courtier, 
in  black  silk  stockings,  strapped  shoes,  tight-fitting 
breeches,  a  slashed  doublet  of  black  silk,  with  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  325 

short  velvet  cloak  over  which  fell  a  snow-white 
fluted  ruff.  He  wore  a  moustache  and  imperial,  had 
a  sword  at  his  side,  and  carried  a  cane.  Whoever 
walks  through  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre,  or  looks 
over  Odieuvre's  collections,  knows  his  round,  almost 
jovial  face,  with  its  sparkling  eyes,  surmounted  by 
the  unusually  ample  forehead  which  is  characteris- 
tic of  the  prose-writers  and  poets  of  that  time.  De 
Beze  had  an  attractive  manner,  which  was  very 
serviceable  to  him.  He  formed  a  striking  contrast 
to  Coligny,  whose  stern  face  is  familiar  to  all,  and 
with  the  sour,  bilious  Chaudieu,  who  wore  the  min- 
isterial costume  and  the  starched  band  of  the  Cal- 
vinists.  What  takes  place  in  our  own  time  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  what  doubtless  took 
place  in  the  Convention  may  help  us  to  understand 
how,  in  that  court,  at  that  epoch,  men  who  were  to 
be  at  daggers  drawn  six  months  later,  and  to  wage 
desperate  war  upon  one  another,  could  meet  on 
friendly  terms,  and  talk  courteously  and  jestingly 
together. 

As  he  entered  the  hall,  Birague,  who  was  to 
advise  in  cold  blood  the  massacre  of  Saint-Barthol- 
omew, and  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  who  was  to 
enjoin  upon  his  servant  Besme,  on  that  occasion, 
not  to  miss  the  admiral,  stepped  forward  to  meet 
Coligny,  and  the  Piedmontese  said  to  him,  with  a 
smile: 

"  Well,  my  dear  admiral,  so  you  take  it  upon  your- 
self to  present  these  gentlemen  from  Geneva?" 

**  Perhaps  you  will  impute  it  to  me  as  a  crime," 


326  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

retorted  the  admiral,  jocosely,  "whereas,  if  you  had 
undertaken  it  yourself,  you  would  claim  that  you 
were  entitled  to  credit  for  it." 

"  It  is  said  that  Sieur  Calvin  is  very  ill,"  said 
the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  to  Theodore  de  Beze.  "  I 
trust  that  we  shall  not  be  suspected  of  poisoning  his 
soup." 

"Ah!  monseigneur,  you  would  lose  too  much  by 
it!"  replied  De  B^ze,  shrewdly. 

The  Due  de  Guise,  who  had  been  eyeing  Chau- 
dieu,  gazed  earnestly  at  his  brother  and  Birague, 
both  of  whom  were  taken  aback  by  that  remark. 

" l^rai-Dieu ! "  cried  the  cardinal,  "the  heretics 
are  not  heterodox  in  the  matter  of  sharp  politics." 

To  forestall  any  possible  difficulty,  the  queen, 
who  was  announced  at  that  moment,  determined  to 
remain  standing.  She  began  by  conversing  with 
the  constable,  who  animadverted  vigorously  upon  the 
scandal  of  receiving  envoys  from  Calvin. 

"  But  you  see,  my  dear  constable,  that  we  receive 
them  without  formality." 

"  Madame,"  said  the  admiral,  approaching  the 
queen,  "these  are  the  two  professors  of  the  new 
religion  who  have  conversed  with  Calvin,  and  who 
bear  his  instructions  relative  to  a  conference  at 
which  the  churches  of  France  may  adjust  their 
differences." 

"  This  is  Monsieur  Theodore  de  B^ze,  to  whom  my 
wife  is  much  attached,"  said  the  King  of  Navarre, 
coming  forward  and  taking  Theodore  by  the  hand. 

"  And  this  is  Chaudieu,"   cried   the   Prince  de 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  327 

Conde.  "  My  friend  the  Due  de  Guise  knows  his 
brother,  the  captain;  perhaps  he  will  not  be  sorry 
to  know  the  minister,"  he  added,  glancing  at  Le 
Balafre. 

That  gasconade  made  the  whole  court  laugh,  even 
Catherine  herself. 

"  Faith,"  replied  the  Due  de  Guise,  "  I  am  de- 
lighted to  meet  a  fellow  who  knows  so  well  how  to 
select  his  men  and  to  employ  them  in  their  proper 
spheres.  One  of  your  friends,"  he  said  to  the 
minister,  "endured  the  extraordinary  question  with- 
out dying,  yes,  and  without  admitting  anything; 
I  consider  myself  a  brave  man,  but  I  am  not  sure 
that  I  could  stand  it  as  he  did!" 

"  Humph!"  said  Ambroise  Pare,  "  you  never  said 
a  word  when  1  pulled  the  spear-head  out  of  your  face 
at  Calais." 

Catherine,  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  semi- 
circle described  by  her  maids  of  honor  and  her 
courtiers,  at  the  right  and  left,  maintained  absolute 
silence.  Scrutinizing  the  two  famous  reformers, 
she  tried  to  penetrate  their  thoughts  with  the  stead- 
fast gaze  of  her  beautiful,  speaking  black  eyes;  she 
studied  them  closely. 

"  One  seems  to  be  the  scabbard,  the  other  the 
blade,"  said  Albert  de  Gondi,  in  her  ear. 

"  Well,  messieurs,"  said  Catherine,  at  last,  un- 
able to  restrain  a  smile,  "so  your  master  has  given 
you  leave  to  hold  a  public  conference,  at  which  you 
may  be  converted  by  the  words  of  new  Fathers  of 
the  Church,  who  are  the  glory  of  our  realm.?" 


328  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"We  have  no  master  save  the  Lord,"  said  Chau- 
dieu. 

**  Oh!  surely  you  recognize  some  little  authority 
in  the  King  of  France?"  queried  Catherine,  with  a 
smile,  interrupting  the  minister. 

"Aye,  and  much  in  the  queen,"  said  De  B^ze, 
bowing. 

"You  will  see,"  she  replied,  "that  the  heretics 
will  be  my  most  obedient  subjects." 

"Ah!  madame,"  cried  Coligny,  "what  a  glorious 
kingdom  we  would  make  for  you!  Europe  reaps 
immense  advantage  from  our  divisions.  It  has  seen 
one-half  of  the  people  of  France  arrayed  against  the 
other  half  for  fifty  years  past." 

"  Well,  well !  are  we  here  to  hear  anthems  sung 
to  the  glory  of  the  heretics?"  interposed  the  con- 
stable, roughly. 

"  No,  but  to  bring  them  to  repentance,"  said  the 
Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  in  his  ear,  "  and  we  should  do 
well  to  try  to  coax  them  by  a  little  gentleness." 

"Do  you  know  what  I  would  have  done  in  the 
time  of  our  king's  father?"  growled  Anne  de  Mont- 
morency; "  I  would  have  called  the  provost  to  hang 
these  two  flat-footed  knaves  high  and  quickly,  on 
the  gibbet  of  the  Louvre." 

"  Well,  messieurs,  who  are  the  professors  who 
will  meet  us  in  argument?"  said  the  queen,  imposing 
silence  on  the  constable,  with  a  glance. 

"  Duplessis-Mornay  and  Theodore  de  B^ze  will  be 
our  leaders,"  said  Chaudieu. 

"The  court  will  go,  doubtless,  to  the  chateau  of 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  329 

Saint-Germain,  and  as  it  would  be  unbecoming  for 
this  colloquy  to  be  held  in  the  royal  residence,  we 
will  hold  it  in  the  little  village  of  Poissy,"  said 
Catherine. 

"Shall  we  be  safe  there,  madame?"  inquired 
Chaudieu. 

"Ah!"  replied  the  queen,  with  a  touch  of  ingenu- 
ousness, "you  will  know  how  to  take  precautions. 
Monsieur  I'Amiral  will  have  an  understanding  on 
that  subject  with  my  cousins  of  Guise  and  Mont- 
morency." 

"  Plague  take  it!"  said  the  constable.  "I'll  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it." 

"  What  do  you  do  to  your  sectaries  to  give  them 
such  strength  of  character?"  said  the  queen,  leading 
Chaudieu  aside  a  few  steps.  "  My  furrier's  son  was 
sublime." 

"  We  have  faith!"  replied  Chaudieu. 

At  that  moment,  the  hall  was  dotted  with  groups 
discussing  with  much  animation  the  projected  meet- 
ing, which,  from  the  queen's  characterization  of  it, 
had  already  taken  the  name  of  the  "  Colloquy  of 
Poissy."     Catherine  looked  at  Chaudieu,  and  said: 

"Yes,  a  new  faith!" 

"Oh!  madame,  if  you  were  not  blinded  by  your 
alliance  with  the  court  of  Rome,  you  would  see  that 
we  have  returned  to  the  true  doctrine  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which,  by  establishing  the  equality  of  souls, 
has  given  us  all  equal  rights  on  earth." 

"Do  you  consider  yourself  Calvin's  equal?" 
queried  the  queen,  shrewdly.    "  Nonsense,  we  are 


350  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

equal  only  in  church.  But,  really,  to  talk  about 
loosening  the  bonds  between  the  people  and  the 
throne!"  cried  Catherine.  "  You  are  not  heretics 
simply,  you  rebel  against  obeying  the  king,  while 
you  throw  off  allegiance  to  the  Pope." 

She  left  him  abruptly,  and  returned  to  Theodore 
de  B^ze. 

"  I  rely  upon  you,  monsieur,"  she  said,  "to  con- 
duct this  colloquy  in  good  faith.  Take  all  the  time 
you  want." 

"  I  supposed,"  said  Chaudieu  to  the  Prince  de 
Conde,  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  Admiral  de  Col- 
igny,  "  that  affairs  of  State  were  treated  more  seri- 
ously." 

**  Oh!  we  all  know  what  we  want,"  said  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  exchanging  a  knowing  glance  with 
Theodore  de  B^ze. 

The  hunchback  left  his  partisans  in  order  to  keep 
an  appointment.  This  great  Prince  de  Conde,  this 
leader  of  a  party,  was  one  of  the  most  favored  gal- 
lants of  the  court;  the  two  loveliest  women  of  the 
time  fought  for  him  with  such  desperation  that 
the  Marechale  de  Saint-Andre,  the  wife  of  the  fu- 
ture triumvir,  gave  him  her  fine  estate  of  Saint- 
Valery  in  order  to  prevail  over  the  Duchesse  de 
Guise,  wife  of  the  man  who  but  a  short  time  before 
had  done  his  utmost  to  compass  his  death  by  the 
axe;  being  unable  to  seduce  the  Due  de  Nemours 
from  his  intrigue  with  Mademoiselle  de  Rohan,  she 
bestowed  her  favors,  meanwhile,  upon  the  leader  of 
the  reformers. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  331 

**How  different  from  Geneva!"  said  Chaudieu  to 
Theodore  de  B^ze,  as  they  stood  on  the  little  bridge 
of  the  Louvre. 

"  These  people  are  more  lively;  and  for  that  very 
reason  I  cannot  understand  why  they  are  so  treach- 
erous." 

"Fight  treachery  with  more  treachery,"  said 
Chaudieu,  in  his  companion's  ear.  "  I  have  saints 
in  Paris  on  whom  I  can  rely,  and  I  propose  to  make 
a  prophet  of  Calvin.  Christophe  will  rid  us  of  the 
most  dangerous  of  our  enemies." 

"  The  queen-mother,  for  whose  sake  the  poor 
devil  endured  the  question,  has  already  caused  him 
to  be  admitted  as  an  advocate  before  the  Parliament, 
and  an  advocate  is  more  a  tale-bearer  than  an  assas- 
sin. Remember  Avenelles,  who  sold  the  secret  of 
our  first  uprising." 

"  I  know  Christophe,"  said  Chaudieu,  confidently, 
as  he  and  the  envoy  from  Geneva  parted. 


Several  days  after  Catherine's  reception  of  Cal- 
vin's secret  ambassadors,  and  near  the  close  of  that 
same  year, — for  the  year  began  at  Easter  in  those 
days,  the  present  calendar  not  being  adopted  until 
the  next  reign, — Christophe  was  lying  in  an  easy- 
chair,  on  that  side  of  the  fireplace  from  which  he 
could  see  the  river,  in  the  large,  dark  living-room 
in  which  this  drama  began.  His  feet  were  resting 
on  a  stool.  Mademoiselle  Lecamus  and  Babette 
Lallier  had  just  renewed  the  bandages  saturated 
with  a  preparation  brought  by  Ambroise,  whom 
Catherine  had  instructed  to  look  after  Christophe. 
Once  recovered  by  his  family,  the  boy  became  the 
object  of  the  most  devoted  attentions.  Babette, 
with  her  father's  consent,  came  to  the  Lecamus 
house  every  morning  and  did  not  leave  until  even- 
ing. Christophe  was  the  object  of  the  wondering 
admiration  of  the  apprentices,  and  strange  tales 
were  rife  throughout  the  quarter,  which  surrounded 
him  with  a  mysterious,  poetic  halo.  He  had  under- 
gone the  question  and  the  celebrated  Ambroise  Pare 
was  exerting  all  his  skill  to  save  him.  What  had  he 
done  to  deserve  such  treatment?  Neither  Chris- 
tophe nor  his  father  had  a  word  to  say  on  that  sub- 
ject. Catherine,  now  all-powerful,  found  it  to  her 
interest  to  hold  her  peace,  as  did  the  Prince  de  Conde. 
The  visits  of  Ambroise,  who  was  surgeon  to  the 
(333) 


334  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

king  and  the  House  of  Guise,  and  yet  was  permitted 
by  the  latter  and  the  queen-mother  to  attend  a  young 
man  accused  of  heresy,  tended  to  involve  in  strange 
confusion  an  incident  which  nobody  could  under- 
stand. Lastly,  the  cure  of  Saint-Pierre  aux  Bceufs 
came  several  times  to  see  his  church-warden's  son, 
and  those  visits  rendered  still  more  inexplicable  the 
causes  of  Christophe's  condition. 

The  old  syndic,  who  had  mapped  out  a  plan  of 
procedure,  gave  evasive  replies  to  his  confreres,  to 
the  tradesmen  and  the  friends  who  spoke  to  him 
about  his  son:  "  I  am  very  lucky,  gossip,  to  have 
saved  him! — What  can  you  expect.?  one  must  never 
put  one's  finger  between  tree  and  bark! — My  son 
put  his  hand  in  the  fire  and  took  from  it  enough 
to  burn  my  house  down! — They  took  advantage  of 
his  youth,  and  we  bourgeois  never  get  anything  but 
shame  and  misfortune  from  fawning  on  the  great. — 
This  has  decided  me  to  make  my  boy  a  lawyer,  the 
Palais  de  Justice  will  teach  him  to  weigh  his  acts  and 
his  words. — The  young  queen,  who  is  in  Scotland 
now,  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it;  but  my  son  may 
have  been  imprudent,  too! — I  have  suffered  cruelly 
myself. — This  may  lead  to  my  giving  up  business, 
for  I  don't  propose  to  go  to  court  any  more. — My 
son  has  had  enough  of  the  Reformation  now;  it  has 
broken  his  arms  and  legs.  Except  for  Ambroise, 
where  should  1  be?" 

Thanks  to  remarks  of  this  sort  and  to  his  prudent 
conduct,  it  was  declared  in  the  quarter  that  Chris- 
tophe  was  no   longer  afflicted  with  Protestantism. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  335 

Everyone  thought  it  natural  that  the  old  syndic 
should  try  to  get  his  son  a  place  in  the  Parliament, 
and  the  cure's  visits  no  longer  seemed  extraordinary. 
Engrossed  by  the  syndic's  misfortunes,  they  did  not 
detect  his  ambition,  which  would  have  seemed  mon- 
strous to  them. 

The  young  advdcate,  after  lying  three  months  on 
the  bed  which  had  been  prepared  for  him  in  the  old 
hall,  had  been  sitting  up  about  a  week  and  could  not 
yet  walk  without  crutches.  Babette's  love  and  his 
mother's  tender  care  had  touched  Christophe  deeply; 
now,  while  he  was  confined  to  his  bed,  those  two 
women  had  lectured  him  pitilessly  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  President  de  Thou  paid  his  godson  a  visit, 
and  talked  to  him  in  fatherly  fashion.  Christophe, 
now  that  he  was  an  advocate  in  Parliament,  odght 
to  be  a  Catholic,  he  would  be  bound  by  his  oath  to 
be;  but  the  president,  having  no  doubt  of  his  ortho- 
doxy, gravely  added  these  words: 

"My  child,  you  have  been  subjected  to  a  cruel 
test,  I  have  no  idea  myself  of  the  reason  that 
Messieurs  de  Guise  had  for  treating  you  so;  I  en- 
treat you  to  lead  a  tranquil  life  henceforth,  and 
to  take  no  part  in  any  disturbances;  for  the  favor 
of  the  king  and  queen  will  not  be  bestowed  on 
brewers  of  storms.  You  are  not  of  enough  conse- 
quence to  fly  in  the  king's  face  as  Messieurs  de 
Guise  do.  If  you  wish  to  be  a  counsellor  in  Parlia- 
ment some  day,  remember  that  you  can  obtain  that 
dignified  office  only  by  devoted  attachment  to  the 
royal  cause." 


356  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

However,  neither  President  de  Thou's  visit,  nor 
Babette's  fascinations,  nor  the  entreaties  of  Made- 
moiselle Lecamus,  his  mother,  had  shaken  the  faith 
of  the  martyr  of  the  Reformation.  Christophe  was 
the  more  deeply  attached  to  his  religion  because  he 
had  suffered  so  cruelly  for  it. 

"My  father  will  never  allow  me  to  marry  a 
heretic,"  whispered  Babette. 

Christophe  replied  only  by  tears,  which  made  the 
pretty  girl  silent  and  pensive. 

Old  Lecamus  preserved  his  dignity  as  father  and 
syndic;  he  watched  his  son  and  said  little.  The  old 
man,  after  he  had  recovered  his  dear  Christophe, 
was  almost  dissatisfied  with  himself;  he  repented  of 
having  showered  all  his  affection  upon  that  only  son; 
but  he  secretly  admired  him.  At  no  time  in  his  life 
did  the  syndic  set  more  machinery  at  work  to  attain 
his  ends;  for  he  saw  the  ripened  crop  whose  seed  he 
had  sown  with  such  patient  toil,  and  he  wished  to 
gather  it  all.  A  few  days  before  the  morning  of 
which  we  write,  he  had  had  a  long  conversation 
with  Christophe,  in  which  he  had  tried  to  discover 
the  secret  of  his  son's  obstinacy.  Christophe,  who 
did  not  lack  ambition,  had  faith  in  the  Prince  de 
Conde.  The  generous  words  of  the  prince,  who 
was  simply  carrying  on  his  princely  profession, 
were  graven  in  his  heart;  but  he  did  not  know  that 
Conde  had  cursed  him  bitterly,  saying  to  himself: 
"  A  Gascon  would  have  understood  me!"  when  the 
boy  called  out  a  touching  farewell  to  him  through 
the  bars  of  his  dungeon  at  Orleans. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  337 

Despite  this  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  prince, 
Christophe  also  cherished  the  profoundest  respect 
for  Catherine,  the  great  queen,  who  had  explained 
to  him  with  a  glance  that  it  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  she  should  sacrifice  him,  and  who,  during 
his  torture,  had  given  him  an  unreserved  promise  in 
a  half-shed  tear.  In  the  profound  silence  of  the 
ninety  days  and  nights  of  his  convalescence,  the 
new  advocate  reviewed  the  events  at  Blois  and  at 
Orleans.  He  estimated,  in  spite  of  himself,  so  to 
speak,  the  respective  advantages  of  those  two  pro- 
tections. He  wavered  between  the  queen  and  the 
prince.  He  certainly  had  been  more  serviceable  to 
Catherine  than  to  the  reformers,  and  in  a  young 
man  both  heart  and  mind  were  certain  to  incline 
toward  the  queen,  not  so  much  because  he  had 
served  her  better  as  because  she  was  a  woman. 
Under  such  circumstances,  a  man  will  always  hope 
for  a  greater  reward  from  a  woman  than  from  a 
man. 

'*  I  sacrificed  myself  for  her,  what  will  she  do  for 
me?" 

He  asked  himself  that  question  almost  involun- 
tarily, remembering  the  tone  in  which  she  had  said: 
"  Povero  mio  !  "  It  is  hard  to  realize  how  personal  a 
man's  thoughts  become  when  he  is  sick  in  bed  and 
alone.  Everything,  even  to  the  exclusive  atten- 
tions of  which  he  is  the  object,  leads  him  to  think 
of  himself  alone.  By  dint  of  exaggerating  the 
Prince  de  Conde's  obligations  to  him,  Christophe 
expected  to  be  offered  some  important  office  at  the 
22 


338  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

court  of  Navarre.  This  child,  still  a  novice  in 
politics,  forgot  that  the  anxieties  of  their  position 
and  their  rapid  progress  through  men  and  events 
engross  the  minds  of  party  leaders;  and  he  forgot  it 
the  more  readily  because  he  was  practically  in  secret 
confinement  in  that  dark  old  hall.  Every  party  is 
necessarily  ungrateful  while  it  is  fighting;  and  when 
it  triumphs,  it  has  too  many  people  to  reward  not  to 
continue  to  be  ungrateful.  Soldiers  submit  to  this 
ingratitude;  but  leaders  turn  against  the  new  master 
with  whom  they  have  marched  so  long  on  a  footing 
of  equality.  Christophe,  who  alone  remembered 
his  own  sufferings,  already  numbered  himself  among 
the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  and  proclaimed  him- 
self one  of  its  martyrs.  Lecamus,  that  old  wolf  of 
trade,  far-sighted  and  shrewd,  had  succeeded  at  last 
in  divining  his  son's  secret  thoughts;  so  that  all  his 
manoeuvres  were  based  upon  the  natural  hesitation 
of  which  Christophe  was  the  victim. 

**  Wouldn't  it  be  a  fine  thing,"  he  had  said  to 
Babette  the  night  before,  in  family  conclave,  "  to  be 
the  wife  of  a  counsellor  in  Parliament?  You  would 
be  called  Madame  1" 

"  You  are  mad,  gossip  I  "  said  Lallier.  **  In  the 
first  place,  where  would  you  get  the  ten  thousand 
crowns  a  year  in  real  estate  that  a  counsellor  must 
have,  and  from  whom  would  you  purchase  a  seat? 
To  get  your  son  into  Parliament,  the  queen-mother 
and  the  regent  would  have  to  be  interested  in  him, 
and  he  smells  a  little  too  strong  of  the  stake  for 
them  to  help  him." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  339 

**  What  would  you  give  to  see  your  daughter  the 
wife  of  a  counsellor?" 

"  You  want  to  see  the  bottom  of  my  purse,  old 
fox!"  said  Lallier. 

Counsellor  of  Parliament!  That  phrase  rang  in 
Christophe's  ears, 

A  long  time  after  the  colloquy,  one  morning  when 
Christophe  was  gazing  at  the  river,  which  reminded 
him  of  the  scene  with  which  this  narrative  begins, 
of  the  Prince  de  Conde,  La  Renaudie,  and  Chau- 
dieu,  of  his  journey  to  Blois, — in  a  word,  of  all  his 
hopes, — the  syndic  came  and  sat  beside  him,  making 
a  feeble  attempt  to  conceal  a  joyous  air  beneath  an 
affectation  of  gravity. 

"My  son,"  he  said,  "after  what  took  place  be- 
tween you  and  the  leaders  in  the  Tumult  of  Am- 
boise,  they  owed  you  so  much  that  the  House  of 
Navarre  ought  to  look  out  for  your  future." 

** Yes, "said  Christophe. 

"Very  good,"  continued  his  father,  "I  made  a 
formal  request  in  your  behalf  for  permission  to  pur- 
chase an  ofifice  in  the  magistracy  of  Beam.  Our 
good  friend  Pare  undertook  to  deliver  the  letters 
which  I  wrote  in  your  name  to  the  Prince  de  Conde 
and  Queen  Jeanne.  Now  read  the  reply  from  Mon- 
sieur de  Pibrac,  Vice-Chancellor  of  Navarre. 

"  To  SIEUR  LECAMUS,  Syndic  of  the  Guild  of  Furriers: 

"  Monseigneur  le  Prince  de  Conde  instructs  me  to  express  to 
you  his  regret  that  he  is  unable  to  do  anything  for  his  com- 
panion in  the  Saint- Aignan  Tower,  whom  he  remembers  per- 
fectly, and  to  whom,  for  the  moment,  he  offers  the  position  of 


340  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

gendarme  in  his  company,  wliere  he  will  be  well  placed  to 
make  his  way  like  the  brave  man  that  he  is. 

"  The  Queen  of  Navarre  awaits  an  opportunity  to  reward 
Sieur  Christophe,  and  will  not  let  it  escape  her. 

"  And  with  this,  Monsieur  le  Syndic,  we  pray  God  to  have 
you  in  His  keeping. 

"  PIBRAC, 

"  Chancellor  of  Navarre." 
"mrac." 

"  Nerac,  Pibrac,  crac!"  said  Babette.  "You  can't 
expect  anything  from  the  Gascons,  they  think  of  no 
one  but  themselves." 

Old  Lecamus  glanced  at  his  son  with  a  mocking 
expression. 

"  He  proposes  to  put  a  poor  boy  on  horseback, 
who  had  his  knees  and  ankles  crushed  for  him!" 
exclaimed  Mademoiselle  Lecamus;  "  what  a  ghastly 
joke!" 

"  I  see  little  chance  of  your  being  a  magistrate  in 
Navarre,"  said  the  syndic. 

"  I  should  like  right  well  to  know  what  Queen 
Catherine  would  do  for  me,  if  I  were  to  call  upon 
her,"  said  Christophe,  utterly  discomfited. 

"  She  promised  you  nothing,"  said  the  old  trades- 
man, "  but  I  am  certain  that  she  would  remember 
your  sufferings  and  not  laugh  at  you.  But  how 
could  she  make  a  bourgeois  and  a  Protestant  a 
counsellor  of  Parliament?" 

"Why,  Christophe  has  not  abjured !"  cried  Ba- 
bette. "  He  can  confine  his  religious  opinions  to 
himself,  surely." 

"  The  Prince  de  Conde  would  be  less  contemptuous 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  341 

with  a  counsellor  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,"  said 
Lecamus. 

"Counsellor,  father!  is  it  possible?" 

"Yes,  if  you  don't  interfere  with  what  I  propose 
to  do  for  you.  Here's  my  gossip  Lallier  who  would 
gladly  give  two  hundred  thousand  livres  if  I  put  as 
much  more  with  it,  to  buy  a  fine  seignorial  estate 
with  a  provision  for  descent  in  the  male  line,  and 
we  will  give  it  to  you  for  your  dowry." 

"  And  I  will  add  something  more  for  a  house  in 
Paris,"  said  Lallier. 

"Well,  Christophe.?"  queried  Babette. 

"You  are  reckoning  without  the  queen,"  was  the 
young  advocate's  reply. 

A  few  days  after  this  bitter  disillusionment,  an 
apprentice  handed  Christophe  the  following  laconic 
note: 

"  Chaudieu  wishes  to  see  his  son." 

"  Let  him  come  in!"  exclaimed  Christophe. 

"O  my  blessed  martyr!"  cried  the  minister,  as 
he  entered  the  room  and  embraced  the  advocate, 
"have  you  recovered  from  your  injuries.?" 

"Yes,  thanks  to  Pare!" 

"  Thanks  to  God,  who  gave  you  the  strength  to 
endure  the  torture!  But  what  do  I  hear.?  you  have 
been  received  as  an  advocate,  you  have  taken  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  you  have  acknowledged  the  harlot, 
the  Catholic,  Apostolic  Roman  Church.?" 

"  It  was  my  father's  wish." 

"  But  must  we  not  leave  our  fathers,  children, 
wives,  everything,  and  endure  all  for  the  blessed 


342  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

cause  of  Calvinism?  Ah!  Christophe,  Calvin,  the 
great  Calvin,  the  whole  party,  the  world,  the  future, 
rely  upon  your  courage,  your  grandeur  of  soul !  We 
must  have  your  life." 

There  is  this  remarkable  characteristic  of  the 
human  mind,  that  the  most  self-sacrificing  man, 
even  while  sacrificing  himself,  builds  a  romance  of 
hope  in  the  most  perilous  emergencies.  Thus  when 
the  prince,  the  soldier,  and  the  minister,  on  the 
river  under  Pont  au  Change,  had  asked  Christophe 
to  carry  to  Catherine  that  treaty,  which,  if  discov- 
ered, was  likely  to  cost  him  his  life,  the  child  relied 
upon  his  wit,  his  intelligence,  chance,  and  had  gone 
boldly  forward  between  those  terrible  enemies,  the 
Guises  and  Catherine,  where  he  had  just  escaped 
being  crushed  to  death.  During  the  torture,  he  said 
to  himself: 

*'  I  shall  get  through  this!  it  is  only  pain!'* 

But  at  that  brutal  demand:  "  Die!"  made  upon  a 
boy  who  was  still  almost  helpless,  hardly  recovered 
from  the  torture,  and  who  was  the  more  attached  to 
life  because  he  had  seen  death  so  near  at  hand,  it 
was  impossible  to  indulge  in  further  illusions. 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do?"  Christophe 
rejoined,  tranquilly. 

"  Fire  a  pistol,  bravely,  as  Stuart  did  at  Minard.** 

"At  whom?" 

"At  the  Due  de  Guise." 

"A  murder?" 

"  An  act  of  vengeance!  Do  you  forget  the  hun- 
dred gentlemen  slaughtered  on  the  same  scaffold  at 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  343 

Amboise  ?  A  child,  little  D'Aubigne,  said,  when  he 
saw  that  butchery:  *  They  have  beheaded  France.*  '* 

"  We  should  receive  blows  and  not  strike  them, 
that  is  the  religion  of  the  Gospel,"  retorted  Chris- 
tophe.  "Why  reform  the  Church  if  we  are  to  im- 
itate the  Catholics?" 

"  Oh!  Christophe,  they  have  made  you  a  lawyer, 
and  you  are  pleading!"  said  Chaudieu. 

*' No,  my  friend,"  replied  the  advocate.  "But 
principles  are  ungrateful  things,  and  you  and  your 
followers  will  be  the  playthings  of  the  House  of 
Bourbon." 

"  Oh!  Christophe,  if  you  had  heard  Calvin,  you 
would  know  that  we  handle  them  like  gloves!  The 
Bourbons  are  the  gloves,  we  are  the  hands." 

"  Read  this!"  said  Christophe,  handing  the  minis- 
ter Pibrac's  letter. 

"  Ah!  my  child,  you  are  ambitious,  you  can  no 
longer  sacrifice  yourself  !    I  pity  you!" 

With  those  noble  words,  Chaudieu  left  the  room. 

Some  days  after  this  scene,  the  Lallier  family 
and  the  Lecamus  family  were  assembled,  in  honor  of 
the  betrothal  of  Christophe  and  Babette,  in  the  old 
dark  hall,  where  Christophe  no  longer  slept;  for  he 
could  go  up  and  down  stairs,  and  was  beginning  to 
drag  himself  along  without  crutches.  It  was  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  they  were  expecting 
Ambroise  Pare.  The  family  notary  sat  in  front  of  a 
table  covered  with  contracts.  The  furrier  had  sold 
his  house  and  his  business  to  his  first  clerk,  who 
was  to  pay  forty  thousand   livres  in  cash  for  the 


344  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

house,  and  to  pledge  it  to  secure  the  purchase-money 
of  the  stock  in  trade,  on  which  he  was  to  pay  twenty 
thousand  livres  on  account. 

Lecamus  had  purchased  for  his  son  a  magnificent 
stone  house  built  by  Philibert  de  I'Orme,  on  Rue 
Saint-Pierre  aux  Boeufs,  and  given  it  to  him  as  his 
marriage-portion.  The  syndic  also  took  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  livres  from  his  savings,  and 
Lallier  contributed  the  same  amount  toward  the 
purchase  of  a  fine  seignorial  estate  in  Picardie,  the 
price  of  which  was  five  hundred  thousand  livres. 
The  estate  in  question  being  held  under  the  crown, 
letters-patent — called  letters  of  rescription — must  be 
procured  from  the  king,  and  there  were  also  fees  for 
alienation  amounting  to  a  considerable  sum.  The 
celebration  of  the  marriage  was  postponed,  therefore, 
until  the  necessary  royal  favor  should  have  been 
granted.  Although  the  bourgeois  of  Paris  had  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  grant  of  the  right  to  purchase 
seignorial  estates,  the  prudence  of  the  Privy  Council 
had  surrounded  that  right  with  certain  restrictions 
relative  to  estates  held  under  the  crown,  and  the 
estate  upon  which  Lecamus  had  had  his  eye  for  ten 
years  past  was  one  of  that  class.  Ambroise  had 
promised  faithfully  to  bring  the  document  that  very 
evening.  Old  Lecamus  went  back  and  forth  from 
the  living-room  to  the  door  with  an  impatience  which 
showed  how  great  his  ambition  really  was.  At  last, 
Ambroise  arrived. 

"  My  old  friend,"  said  the  surgeon,  in  an  excited 
tone,  glancing  at  the  supper-table,  "  let  me  see  your 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  345 

linen.  Good.  By  the  way,  put  in  wax-candles. 
Hurry!  hurry!  hunt  up  all  the  finest  things  you 
own.'' 

"Why,  what's  the  matter.?"  asked  the  cure  of 
Saint-Pierre  aux  Boeufs. 

"  The  queen-mother  and  the  king  are  coming  to 
sup  with  you,"  replied  the  surgeon.  "  They  are  wait- 
ing for  an  aged  counsellor  whose  seat  Christophe  may 
purchase,  and  for  Monsieur  de  Thou,  who  concluded 
the  bargain.  Do  not  let  it  appear  that  you  have 
been  notified;  I  slipped  away  from  the  Louvre." 

In  an  instant,  both  families  were  on  their  feet. 
Christophe's  mother  and  Babette's  aunt  bustled 
about  with  the  activity  of  housekeepers  taken  by 
surprise.  Notwithstanding  the  confusion  which  that 
notification  caused  in  the  family  party,  the  prepara- 
tions were  made  with  a  celerity  bordering  on  the 
marvellous.  Christophe,  bewildered,  surprised,  con- 
founded by  such  a  mark  of  favor,  was  utterly 
speechless,  and  stared  mechanically  while  the  others 
worked. 

"  The  king  and  queen  in  our  house!"  said  the  old 
mother. 

"  The  queen!"  echoed  Babette;  **  what  are  we  to 
say  and  do?" 

In  an  hour,  everything  was  transformed,  the  old 
hall  was  decorated,  the  table  fairly  gleamed.  The 
sound  of  horses'  hoofs  was  heard  in  the  streets. 
The  flaring  of  torches  carried  by  the  horsemen  of 
the  escort  brought  all  the  bourgeois  of  the  neighbor- 
hood to  their  windows.     The  commotion  was  soon 


346  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

over.  There  remained  under  the  pillars  only  the 
queen-mother  and  her  son,  King  Charles  IX.; 
Charles  de  Condi,  grand  master  of  the  household 
and  governor  to  the  king;  Monsieur  de  Thou,  the 
old  counsellor  in  question.  Secretary  of  State  Pinard, 
and  two  pages. 

"  Cood  people,"  said  the  queen,  on  entering  the 
room,  "  the  king  my  son  and  I  have  come  to  sign 
the  marriage-contract  of  our  furrier's  son;  but  we 
do  so  on  the  condition  that  he  remains  a  Catholic. 
One  must  be  a  Catholic  to  enter  Parliament,  one 
must  be  a  Catholic  to  possess  an  estate  under  the 
crown,  one  must  be  a  Catholic  to  sit  at  the  king's 
table,  eh,  Pinard.?" 

The  secretary  of  State  appeared  with  letters- 
patent  in  his  hand. 

"  If  we  are  not  all  Catholics  here,"  said  the  little 
king,  "  Pinard  will  throw  everything  into  the  fire; 
but  we  are  all  Catholics,  are  we  not.?"  he  added, 
glancing  proudly  around  upon  the  assemblage. 

"  Yes,  sire,"  said  Christophe  Lecamus,  bending 
his  knee,  albeit  with  difficulty,  and  kissing  the  hand 
which  the  young  king  held  out  to  him. 

Queen  Catherine,  who  also  gave  her  hand  to 
Christophe  to  kiss,  suddenly  raised  him  and  led  him 
a  few  steps  apart. 

"  Look  you,  my  fine  fellow,"  she  said,  "  no  sub- 
terfuges!    We  are  playing  an  open  game!" 

"  Yes,  madame,"  he  replied,  dazzled  by  the  hand- 
some reward  for  his  services,  and  by  the  honor  the 
grateful  queen  bestowed  upon  him. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  347 

"  Very  well,  Monsieur  Lecamus,  the  king  my 
son  and  I  give  you  permission  to  negotiate  for  the 
seat  in  Parliament  of  Goodman  Groslay  here,"  said 
the  queen.  "  You  will,  I  trust,  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  first  president." 

De  Thou  stepped  forward. 

"  I  will  answer  for  him,  madame,"  he  said. 

"  Very  well;  draw  the  papers,  notaries,"  said 
Pinard, 

"  Since  the  king  our  master  does  us  the  honor  of 
signing  my  daughter's  contract,"  cried  Lallier,  "  I 
will  pay  the  whole  price  of  the  estate." 

"  The  ladies  may  be  seated,"  said  the  young  king, 
graciously.  "  For  a  wedding-gift  to  the  bride,  I  will, 
with  my  mother's  assent,  waive  my  claims." 

Old  Lecamus  and  Lallier  fell  on  their  knees  and 
kissed  the  young  king's  hand. 

"Mordieu!  sire,  how  much  money  these  bourgeois 
have!"  whispered  Gondi  in  his  ear. 

The  king  began  to  laugh. 

"  Will  their  Majesties,  being  so  kindly  disposed," 
said  old  Lecamus,  *'  deign  to  permit  me  to  present 
my  successor  to  them  and  will  they  continue  to  him 
the  royal  patent  to  supply  furs  to  their  households.?" 

"  Let  us  see  him,"  said  the  king. 

Lecamus  summoned  his  successor,  who  turned 
deathly  pale. 

"With  my  dear  mother's  permission,  we  will  all 
take  our  seats  at  the  supper-table,"  said  the  king. 

Old  Lecamus  had  the  tact  to  give  the  king  a  silver 
goblet  which  he  had  obtained  from  Benvenuto  Cellini 


348  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

at  the  time  of  his  residence  in  Paris  at  the  H6tel  de 
Nesle,  and  which  had  cost  him  no  less  than  two 
thousand  crowns. 

"  Oh!  mother,  what  lovely  work!"  cried  the  king, 
raising  the  goblet  by  its  base. 

"  That  is  from  Florence,"  said  Catherine. 

"  Pardon,  madame,"  said  Lecamus,  "  it  was  made 
in  Paris  by  a  Florentine.  Anything  from  Florence 
would  belong  to  the  queen,  but  what  is  made  in 
France  is  the  king's." 

"I  accept,  goodman,"  said  Charles  IX.,  "and 
after  this  it  shall  be  my  goblet." 

"It  is  beautiful  enough,"  said  the  queen,  after 
examining  the  chef  d'oeuvre,  "to  be  included  among 
the  crown  treasures. — Well,  Master  Ambroise,"  she 
continued  in  a  low  tone,  addressing  the  surgeon  and 
pointing  to  Christophe,  "have  you  taken  good  care 
of  him.?  can  he  walk.?" 

"  He  can  fly,"  said  the  surgeon,  with  a  smile. 
"Ah!  you  have  seduced  him  very  cleverly." 

"  The  abbey  will  not  go  to  ruin  for  lack  of  one 
monk,"  replied  the  queen,  with  the  levity  for  which 
she  has  been  so  blamed,  but  which  was  only  super- 
ficial. 

The  supper  was  very  animated;  the  queen  praised 
Babette's  beauty,  and,  like  the  great  queen  that  she 
always  was,  she  slipped  one  of  her  diamonds  on  her 
finger,  to  make  up  for  the  loss  which  the  Lecamuses 
sustained  in  parting  with  the  goblet.  King  Charles 
IX.,  who  subsequently  became  rather  too  much  ad- 
dicted to  descents  of  this  sort  upon  his  bourgeois 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  349 

subjects,  supped  heartily;  then,  at  a  word  from  his 
new  governor,  who,  it  was  said,  was  under  instruc- 
tion to  make  him  forget  Cypierre's  virtuous  precepts, 
he  incited  the  first  president,  the  old  ex-counsellor, 
the  secretary  of  State,  the  cure,  the  notary,  and  the 
bourgeois  to  drink  so  freely  that  Queen  Catherine 
took  her  leave,  finding  that  the  hilarity  was  on  the 
point  of  becoming  uproarious.  The  instant  that 
the  queen  rose,  Christophe,  his  father,  and  the  two 
women  took  torches  and  escorted  her  to  the  door  of 
the  shop.  There,  Christophe  ventured  to  pull  the 
queen's  sleeve  and  made  a  significant  sign.  Cath- 
erine stopped,  dismissed  old  Lecamus  and  the  two 
women  with  a  gesture,  and  said  to  Christophe: 

"What  is  it?" 

"  If  the  information  will  be  of  any  benefit  to  you, 
madame,"  he  said,  speaking  close  to  her  ear,  "the 
Due  de  Guise  is  in  danger  from  assassins." 

"You  are  a  loyal  subject,"  said  Catherine,  with 
a  smile,  "  and  I  will  never  forget  you." 

She  held  out  her  hand,  famous  for  its  beauty,  and 
removed  her  glove,  which  could  but  be  considered  a 
mark  of  favor;  so  that  Christophe,  as  he  kissed  that 
beautiful  hand,  became  a  royalist,  heart  and  soul. 

"So  they  propose  to  rid  me  of  that  swashbuck- 
ling soldier,  without  any  assistance  from  me!"  she 
thought,  as  she  put  on  her  glove. 

She  mounted  her  mule,  and  returned  to  the  Louvre 
with  her  two  pages. 

Christophe's  face  wore  a  gloomy  expression  as  he 
drank  with  his  guests;  Ambroise's  austere  features 


350  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

reproached  him  for  his  apostasy,  but  subsequent 
events  justified  the  old  syndic.  Christophe  cer- 
tainly would  not  have  escaped  the  Saint-Bartholo- 
mew, his  wealth  and  his  seignorial  estate  would 
have  made  him  a  shining  mark  for  the  assassins. 
History  has  recorded  the  cruel  fate  of  the  wife  of 
Lallier's  successor,  a  beautiful  creature  whose  naked 
body  was  left  for  three  days  hanging  by  her  hair  to 
one  of  the  piers  of  Pont  au  Change.  Babette  shud- 
dered, thinking  that  she  might  have  undergone  sim- 
ilar treatment  had  Christophe  remained  a  Calvinist, 
for  such  was  the  name  assumed  ere  long  by  the  re- 
formers. Calvin's  ambition  was  gratified,  but  not 
until  after  his  death. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  celebrated  parliamen- 
tary family  of  Lecamus.  Tallemant  des  Reaux  is 
guilty  of  an  error  in  stating  that  they  came  from 
Picardie.  At  a  later  period,  the  Lecamuses  found 
it  to  their  advantage  to  describe  themselves  as  of 
their  principal  estate,  which  was  situated  in  that 
province.  Christophe's  son,  who  succeeded  him 
under  Louis  Xlll.,  was  the  father  of  that  wealthy 
President  Lecamus  who,  under  Louis  XIV.,  built  the 
magnificent  mansion  which  shared  with  the  Lambert 
palace  the  admiration  of  Parisians  and  strangers,  and 
which  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
structures  in  Paris.  It  is  still  in  existence,  on  Rue 
de  Thorigny,  although  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revo- 
lution it  was  pillaged  as  belonging  to  Monsieur  de 
Juigne,  then  Archbishop  of  Paris.  All  the  paintings 
were  then  destroyed;  and  the  boarding-schools  which 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  351 

have  occupied  it  since  have  injured  it  sadly.  That 
palace,  built  with  money  made  in  the  old  house  on 
Rue  de  la  Pelleterie,  still  exhibits  the  grand  results 
formerly  produced  by  the  spirit  of  family.  We  may 
be  permitted  to  doubt  whether  modern  individualism, 
engendered  by  the  equal  division  of  inheritances, 
will  ever  rear  such  monuments. 


PART  SECOND 


23 


THE   SECRET   OF   THE   RUGGIERI 
* 

Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  one  night  in 
the  latter  part  of  October,  1573,  two  Florentines, 
brothers,  Albert  de  Gondi,  Marshal  of  France,  and 
Charles  de  Gondi  la  Tour,  grand  master  of  the  ward- 
robe to  King  Charles  IX.,  were  seated  on  the  roof 
of  a  house  on  Rue  Saint-Honore,  on  the  edge  of 
a  gutter.  It  was  the  ordinary  stone  gutter  which  in 
those  days  ran  along  the  edge  of  the  roofs  to  receive 
the  rain-water,  and  was  pierced  here  and  there  by 
long  spouts  in  the  shape  of  impossible  animals  with 
wide-open  mouths.  Despite  the  zeal  with  which  the 
present  generation  is  levelling  the  old  houses,  there 
were  many  of  these  projecting  spouts  still  in  exist- 
ence in  Paris  when  the  recent  police  ordinance  re- 
specting gutters  running  to  the  ground  caused  them 
all  to  disappear.  Nevertheless,  there  are  a  few 
carved  spouts  still  to  be  seen,  principally  in  the 
heart  of  the  Saint-Antoine  quarter,  where  rents  are 
so  low  that  householders  cannot  afford  to  build 
additional  stories  under  the  eaves. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  two  individuals  holding 
such  important  offices  should  thus  ply  the  trade  of 
cats.  But  to  anyone  who  delves  among  the  historical 
(355) 


356  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

treasures  of  that  time,  when  so  many  conflicting 
interests  were  constantly  coming  in  collision  around 
the  throne,  that  the  internal  politics  of  France 
may  fitly  be  compared  to  a  tangled  skein  of  thread, 
those  two  Florentines  will  seem  like  veritable  cats 
suitably  placed  in  a  gutter.  Their  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  Queen  Catherine  de'  Medici,  who  had 
established  them  at  the  French  court,  forbade  them 
to  recoil  from  any  of  the  consequences  of  their  in- 
trusion. But,  to  explain  how  and  why  the  two 
courtiers  had  perched  themselves  there,  we  must  go 
back  to  a  scene  which  had  taken  place  within  a 
short  distance  of  this  same  gutter,  in  the  noble 
brown  hall  at  the  Louvre — the  only  remaining  one 
of  the  apartments  of  Henri  II.,  where  the  courtiers 
paid  their  court  after  supper  to  the  two  queens  and 
the  king. 

At  that  time,  the  bourgeois  supped  at  six  o'clock 
and  the  nobility  at  seven;  but  the  most  fashionable 
families  supjDed  between  eight  and  nine.  That  re- 
past corresponded  to  the  dinner  of  to-day.  Some 
persons  erroneously  imagine  that  court  etiquette  was 
invented  by  Louis  XIV.;  in  reality,  it  was  introduced 
in  France  by  Catherine  de'  Medici,  who  made  it  so 
strict  that  the  Connetable  Anne  de  Montmorency  had 
more  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  privilege  of  entering 
the  courtyard  of  the  Louvre  on  horseback  than  in 
obtaining  his  constable's  sword;  indeed,  that  ex- 
traordinary distinction  was  bestowed  upon  him  only 
at  an  advanced  age.  Somewhat  relaxed  under  the 
first  two  kings  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  etiquette 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  357 

assumed  an  Oriental  form  under  the  great  king,  for 
it  came  from  the  Roman  Empire,  where  it  was  im- 
ported from  Persia.  In  1573,  not  only  had  few  per- 
sons the  right  to  enter  the  courtyard  of  the  Louvre 
with  servants  and  torches, — as  under  Louis  XIV. 
only  dukes  and  peers  could  drive  under  the  peri- 
style,— but  the  offices  which  carried  with  them  the 
entree  to  the  royal  apartments  after  supper  could 
easily  be  counted.  The  Marechal  de  Retz,  now 
doing  sentry  duty  in  that  gutter,  one  day  offered 
a  thousand  crowns  of  the  money  of  that  time  to  the 
usher  of  the  closet  for  an  opportunity  to  speak  to 
Henri  III.  at  a  moment  when  he  had  not  the  right 
to  do  it.  How  laughable  it  is  to  a  real  historian  to 
see  a  picture  of  the  courtyard  of  the  chateau  of  Blois, 
for  instance,  in  which  the  artist  has  placed  a  gentle- 
man on  horseback! 

On  the  occasion  to  which  we  refer,  then,  only  the 
most  eminent  personages  of  the  realm  were  present 
at  the  Louvre.  Queen  Elisabeth  of  Austria  and  her 
mother-in-law  Catherine  de'  Medici  were  seated  at 
the  left  of  the  fireplace.  On  the  other  side  was  the 
king,  buried  in  an  easy-chair,  affecting  a  lethargic 
condition  justified  by  the  operation  of  digestion,  for 
he  had  eaten  like  a  prince  just  returned  from  hunt- 
ing. Perhaps  he  wished  to  avoid  speaking  in  pres- 
ence of  so  many  persons  who  were  trying  to  divine 
his  thoughts.  The  courtiers  stood,  with  uncovered 
heads,  at  the  end  of  the  hall.  Some  were  talking  in 
undertones;  others  were  watching  the  king,  awaiting 
a  glance  or  a  word  from  him.     The  queen-mother 


358  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

would  beckon  to  one  of  them  and  he  would  talk  with 
her  for  some  moments;  another  would  venture  to 
make  a  remark  to  Charles  IX.,  who  would  answer 
with  a  nod  of  the  head  or  a  word  or  two.  A  Ger- 
man nobleman,  the  Count  of  Solern,  stood  by  the 
hearth,  beside  Charles  V.'s  granddaughter,  whom 
he  had  accompanied  to  France.  Near  the  young 
queen,  seated  on  a  stool,  was  her  maid  of  honor, 
the  Comtesse  de  Fiesco,  a  Strozzi  and  a  kins- 
woman of  Catherine.  The  lovely  Madame  de 
Sauves,  a  descendant  of  Jacques  Coeur,  mistress 
of  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  King  of  Poland,  and 
the  Due  d'Alenfon,  turn  and  turn  about,  had  been 
invited  to  supper;  but  she  was  standing,  her  hus- 
band being  only  secretary  of  State.  Behind  those 
two  ladies  stood  the  two  Gondis,  talking  with  them. 
They  alone  in  all  that  gloomy  assemblage  were 
laughing.  Gondi,  created  Due  de  Retz  and  made 
gentleman  of  the  chamber,  after  he  had  obtained  a 
marshal's  baton  without  ever  having  commanded  an 
army,  had  been  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  marry- 
ing the  queen  by  proxy  at  Spires.  That  favor  makes 
it  sufficiently  clear  that  he,  like  his  brother,  was  of 
the  small  number  of  those  whom  the  two  queens 
and  the  king  allowed  to  indulge  in  some  familiarities. 
On  the  king's  side  of  the  hearth,  in  the  front  rank, 
were  the  Marechal  de  Tavannes,  who  had  come  to 
court  on  particular  business;  Neufville  de  Villeroy, 
one  of  the  cleverest  negotiators  of  that  age,  who 
inaugurated  the  fortunes  of  that  family;  Messieurs 
Birague  and  Chiverni,  the  former,  the  queen-mother's 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  359 

confidential  adviser,  the  other,  Chancellor  of  Anjou 
and  Poland,  who,  knowing  the  queen-mother's  pre- 
dilection, had  attached  himself  to  the  service  of 
Henri  III.,  that  brother  whom  Charles  IX.  regarded 
as  his  enemy;  Strozzi,  the  queen-mother's  cousin; 
and  several  other  noblemen,  prominent  among  them 
the  old  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  and  his  nephew,  the 
young  Due  de  Guise,  both  of  whom  were  kept  at  a 
distance  by  Catherine  and  the  king  alike.  Those 
two  leaders  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  afterward  the 
League,  founded  some  years  before  in  concert  with 
Spain,  affected  the  submission  of  servants  who  await 
the  opportunity  to  become  masters.  Catherine  and 
Charles  IX.  watched  each  other  with  equal  atten- 
tion. 

In  that  court,  which  was  itself  as  gloomy  as  the 
apartment  in  which  it  was  held,  everyone  had  his 
reasons  for  being  melancholy  or  thoughtful.  The 
young  queen  was  a  victim  of  the  tortures  of  jealousy, 
and  disguised  them  poorly  by  pretending  to  smile 
upon  her  husband,  whom,  like  a  virtuous  and  affec- 
tionate wife,  she  passionately  adored. — Marie  Tou- 
chet,  Charles  IX. 's  only  mistress,  to  whom  he 
was  chivalrously  faithful,  had  returned  more  than 
a  month  before  from  the  chateau  of  Fayet,  in 
Dauphine,  where  she  had  gone  to  lie  in.  She 
brought  back  to  Charles  IX.  the  only  son  he  ever 
had,  Charles  de  Valois,  at  first  Comte  d'Auvergne, 
afterward  Due  d'AngoulSme.  In  addition  to  the 
chagrin  of  knowing  that  her  rival  had  given  the  king 
a  son,  while  she  had  had  a  daughter  only,  the  poor 


360  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

queen  had  experienced  the  humiliation  of  a  sudden 
desertion.  During  his  mistress's  absence,  the  king 
had  returned  to  his  wife  with  an  excessive  passion 
which  history  mentions  as  one  of  the  causes  of  his 
death.  But  Marie  Touchet's  return  proved  to  the 
devout  Austrian  how  little  part  the  heart  had  played 
in  her  husband's  love.  Nor  was  this  the  only  dis- 
illusion which  the  young  queen  suffered  in  this 
matter;  hitherto  Catherine  de'  Medici  had  seemed 
friendly  to  her;  but  now,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  she 
encouraged  her  son's  infidelity,  preferring  to  serve 
the  king's  mistress  rather  than  his  wife.  For  this 
reason. 

When  Charles  IX.  avowed  his  passion  for  Marie 
Touchet,  Catherine  manifested  a  favorable  disposi- 
tion to  the  girl,  in  the  interest  of  her  own  domination. 
Marie  Touchet,  who  had  been  launched  at  court 
very  young,  came  thither  at  that  period  of  life  when 
noble  sentiments  are  in  full  bloom;  she  adored  the 
king  for  his  own  sake.  Terrified  at  the  fate  to 
which  ambition  had  brought  the  Duchesse  de  Valen- 
tinois,  better  known  under  the  name  of  Diane  de 
Poitiers,  she  was  doubtless  afraid  of  Catherine  de' 
Medici,  and  preferred  happiness  to  splendor.  Per- 
haps she  reflected  that  two  lovers  as  young  as  the 
king  and  herself  could  not  hope  to  contend  with 
the  queen-mother.  Marie  was  the  only  daughter  of 
Jean  Touchet,  Sieur  de  Beauvais  and  du  Quillard, 
king's  councillor  and  lieutenant  of  the  bailliage  of 
Orleans;  thus  she  occupied  a  station  between  the 
bourgeois  and  the  lowest  nobility,  and  was  neither 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  561 

altogether  bourgeois  nor  altogether  noble;  therefore 
she  was  not  likely  to  be  inspired  by  the  inborn 
ambition  of  the  Pisseleus  and  the  Saint-Valliers, 
maidens  of  illustrious  origin  who  fought  for  their 
families  with  the  secret  weapons  of  love.  Marie 
Touchet,  alone  and  without  family  connections, 
spared  Catherine  de'  Medici  the  annoyance  of  find- 
ing in  her  son's  mistress  the  daughter  of  some  great 
family,  who  would  have  set  herself  up  as  her  rival. 
Jean  Touchet,  one  of  the  finest  minds  of  his  day,  to 
whom  several  poets  dedicated  their  works,  would 
accept  nothing  at  court.  Marie,  being  a  young 
woman  without  hangers-on,  as  clever  and  well- 
informed  as  she  was  simple-mannered  and  artless, 
and  one  whose  wishes  were  certain  not  to  be  in- 
jurious to  the  royal  power,  proved  very  acceptable 
to  Catherine,  who  gave  evidence  of  the  greatest 
affection  for  her.  Indeed,  she  obtained  from  the 
Parliament  a  decree  recognizing  the  legitimacy  of 
the  son  Marie  Touchet  had  borne  in  April,  and  per- 
mitted him  to  assume  the  title  of  Comte  d'Auvergne, 
assuring  Charles  IX.  that  she  would  bequeath  him 
by  will  her  own  domains,  the  comtes  of  Auvergne 
and  Lauraguais.  Marguerite,  at  first  Queen  of 
Navarre,  contested  this  bequest  when  she  became 
Queen  of  France,  and  the  Parliament  annulled  it; 
but,  later  still,  Louis  XIII.,  moved  thereto  by  re- 
spect for  the  blood  of  the  Valois,  indemnified  the 
Comte  d'Auvergne  with  the  duchy  of  Angoul^me. 
Catherine  had  already  given  to  Marie  Touchet,  who 
asked  for  nothing,  the  seignorial  estate  of  Belleville, 


362  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

an  estate  with  no  title  attached,  near  Vincennes, 
whither  the  mistress  was  accustomed  to  go  when 
the  king,  after  hunting,  lay  at  the  chateau  of  Vin- 
cennes. Charles  IX.  passed  the  greater  part  of  his 
last  days  in  that  frowning  fortress,  and,  according  to 
some  authors,  breathed  his  last  there  as  Louis  XII. 
had  done. 

Although  it  was  very  natural  for  a  lover  so 
seriously  enamored  to  lavish  upon  the  adored  one 
constant  proofs  of  love,  at  a  time  when  he  should 
have  been  expiating  his  infidelity  to  his  lawful 
spouse,  Catherine,  after  driving  her  son  into  the 
queen's  bed,  pleaded  Marie  Touchet's  cause  as 
women  know  how  to  plead,  and  had  just  driven  the 
king  back  into  his  mistress's  arms.  Anything  that 
kept  Charles  IX.  interested  outside  of  politics  was 
welcome  to  Catherine;  but  the  kindly  disposition 
she  displayed  toward  this  girl  momentarily  deceived 
Charles  IX.,  who  was  beginning  to  look  upon  her  as 
an  enemy.  The  motives  which  governed  Catherine's 
conduct  in  this  affair  escaped  the  comprehension  of 
Queen  Elisabeth,  who,  according  to  Brantome,  was 
one  of  the  greatest  queens  who  ever  reigned,  and  who 
never  injured  or  offended  anyone,  even  reading  her 
hook  of  hours  in  secret.  But  that  innocent  princess 
was  beginning  to  catch  glimpses  of  the  precipices  that 
yawn  about  a  throne:  a  horrible  discovery  which 
might  well  cause  an  occasional  attack  of  vertigo; 
indeed,  she  must  have  experienced  something  even 
worse  than  vertigo  to  induce  her  to  reply  to  one 
of  her  ladies,  who  said  to   her,  after  the   king's 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  363 

death,  that,  if  she  had  a  son,  she  would  be  queen- 
mother  and  regent. 

"Ah!  let  us  thank  God  that  he  never  gave  me  a 
son!  What  would  have  happened?  the  poor  child 
would  have  been  robbed  as  they  tried  to  rob  the 
king  my  husband,  and  I  should  have  been  the  cause 
of  it.  God  took  pity  on  the  State,  He  did  everything 
for  the  best." 

This  princess,  whose  portrait  Brantome  flattered 
himself  that  he  had  painted  by  saying  that  her  com- 
plexion was  as  delicate  and  beautiful  as  those  of  the 
ladies  of  her  court,  and  very  pleasant  to  behold,  and 
that  her  figure  was  fine  although  she  was  rather 
short,  was  of  small  consequence  at  court;  but  as  her 
husband's  frame  of  mind  enabled  her  to  abandon 
herself  to  her  twofold  grief,  her  attitude  intensified 
the  gloom  of  a  picture  which  a  young  queen  less 
cruelly  afflicted  than  she  might  have  brightened. 
The  pious  Elisabeth  proved  at  that  moment  that  the 
qualities  which  are  the  glory  of  women  of  ordinary 
rank  may  be  fatal  to  a  sovereign.  A  princess  who 
turned  her  attention  to  something  beside  her  book  of 
hours  during  the  night  might  have  been  a  useful 
helpmeet  to  Charles  IX.,  who  found  no  sustaining 
force  either  in  his  wife  or  in  his  mistress. 

As  for  the  queen-mother,  her  attention  was  cen- 
tred on  the  king,  who,  during  the  supper,  had  mani- 
fested a  noisy  good-humor,  which  she  well  knew  to 
be  assumed  as  a  cloak  for  some  step  to  be  taken 
adverse  to  her.  That  sudden  gayety  contrasted  too 
noticeably  with  the  perturbation  of  mind  which  he 


364  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

had  concealed  with  dilificulty  by  his  assiduity  in  the 
hunting-field,  and  by  working  like  a  madman  at 
the  forge,  where  he  loved  to  hammer  iron,  for  Cath- 
erine to  be  deceived  by  it.  Although  she  could  not 
guess  what  statesman  was  lending  his  aid  in  the 
negotiations  and  preliminaries, — for  Charles  IX.  had 
a  way  of  throwing  his  mother's  spies  off  the  scent, — 
Catherine  had  no  doubt  that  some  scheme  was  being 
concocted  against  her.  The  unlooked-for  presence 
of  Tavannes,  who  had  arrived  at  the  same  time  as 
Strozzi,  for  whom  she  had  written,  gave  her  much 
food  for  thought.  By  virtue  of  the  strength  of  her 
combinations,  Catherine  was  above  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances; but  she  was  powerless  against  sudden 
violence. 

As  many  persons  know  nothing  of  the  condition  of 
public  affairs  of  that  time,  complicated  as  they  were 
by  the  numerous  different  parties  which  kept  France 
in  a  state  of  agitation,  and  whose  leaders  were  all 
guided  by  their  private  interests,  it  is  necessary  to 
describe,  in  a  few  words,  the  perilous  crisis  by  which 
the  queen-mother  was  threatened.  And  at  the  same 
time  that  we  display  Catherine  de'  Medici  in  a  new 
light,  we  shall  go  to  the  root  of  this  episode. 

Two  words  furnish  the  key  to  the  character  of  that 
woman,  who  is  such  an  interesting  subject  of  study, 
and  whose  influence  left  such  a  deep  impression  upon 
France.  Those  two  words  are  power  and  astrology. 
Being  exclusively  ambitious,  Catherine  had  no  other 
passion  than  the  passion  for  power.  Superstitious 
and  a  fatalist,  as  so  many  superior  men  were,  she 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  365 

believed  sincerely  in  nothing  but  the  occult  sciences. 
Without  a  knowledge  of  these  two  facts,  her  charac- 
ter will  never  be  understood.  By  giving  precedence 
to  her  faith  in  astrology,  we  shall  turn  the  light  upon 
the  two  philosophical  personages  of  this  Study. 

There  was  one  man  to  whom  Catherine  was  more 
attached  than  to  her  children:  that  man  was  Cosmo 
Ruggieri;  she  provided  him  with  apartments  at  her 
Hotel  de  Soissons,  she  had  made  him  her  final  ad- 
viser, whose  duty  it  was  to  tell  her  whether  the 
stars  confirmed  the  opinions  and  good  sense  of  her 
ordinary  advisers.  Ruggieri's  peculiar  antecedents 
justified  the  influence  over  his  mistress  which  he 
retained  to  the  last  moment.  Unquestionably  the 
physician  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  Duke  of  Urbino, 
Catherine's  father,  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  sixteenth  century.  That  physician  was 
called  Old  Ruggiero — Vecchio  Ruggier  and  Roger 
VAncien  by  the  French  authors  who  have  treated 
of  alchemy — ^to  distinguish  him  from  his  two  sons, 
Lorenzo  Ruggiero,  called  the  Great  by  cabalistic 
authors,  and  Cosmo  Ruggiero,  Catherine's  astrol- 
oger, also  called  Roger  by  some  historians.  It  has 
been  customary  to  call  them  Ruggieri,  just  as  Cath- 
erine's name  is  commonly  called  JWedicis  instead  of 
Medici.  Old  Ruggieri  was  so  highly  esteemed  in 
the  House  of  Medici,  that  the  two  dukes,  Cosmo  and 
Lorenzo,  were  the  godfathers  of  his  two  sons.  In 
concert  with  the  famous  mathematician  Bazile,  he 
cast  Catherine's  horoscope,  in  his  capacity  of  math- 
ematician, astrologer,  and  physician  to  the  House  of 


366  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Medici,  three  offices  whose  functions  are  often  con- 
founded. In  those  days,  the  occult  sciences  were 
cultivated  with  ardor  well  calculated  to  surprise  the 
incredulous  minds  of  our  own  sovereignly  analytical 
age;  perhaps  they  may  detect  in  this  historical 
sketch  the  germ  of  the  positive  sciences,  widely 
studied  in  the  nineteenth  century,  but  without  the 
poetic  grandeur  which  was  ascribed  to  them  by  the 
audacious  investigators  of  the  sixteenth  century; 
who,  instead  of  devoting  their  energy  to  industry, 
magnified  art  and  made  thought  fruitful.  The 
patronage  universally  accorded  to  art  by  the  sov- 
ereigns of  that  time  was  justified,  too,  by  the  mar- 
vellous creations  of  inventors  who  started  in  quest 
of  the  philosopher's  stone  and  reached  amazing  re- 
sults. Never  were  sovereigns  more  eager  in  their 
pursuit  of  these  mysteries.  The  Fuggers,  whom 
modern  Luculluses  acknowledge  as  their  princes, 
and  modern  bankers  as  their  masters,  were  certainly 
shrewd  calculators,  not  easily  surprised;  well,  those 
hard-headed  men,  who  lent  the  funds  of  all  Europe 
to  the  rulers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  were 
debt-ridden  as  well  as  those  of  the  present  day, — 
those  illustrious  hosts  of  Charles  V.  had  an  interest 
in  Paracelsus's  retorts.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Old  Ruggieri  was  at  the  head  of 
that  secret  university  from  which  the  Cardans  grad- 
uated, and  the  Nostradamuses  and  the  Agrippas, 
who  were  in  turn  physicians  to  the  Valois  princes, 
— in  a  word,  all  the  astronomers,  astrologers,  alche- 
mists who  surrounded  the  princes  of  Christendom 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  367 

in  those  days,  and  who  were  more  especially  wel- 
comed and  patronized  in  France  by  Catherine  de* 
Medici. 

In  the  horoscope  cast  by  Bazile  and  Old  Ruggieri, 
the  principal  events  of  Catherine's  life  were  pre- 
dicted with  an  accuracy  most  disheartening  to  those 
who  deny  the  power  of  the  occult  sciences.  That 
horoscope  foretold  the  disasters  which  marked  her 
early  years,  during  the  siege  of  Florence,  her  mar- 
riage to  a  son  of  France,  the  unhoped-for  accession 
of  that  son  to  the  throne,  the  birth  of  her  children 
and  their  number.  Three  of  her  sons  in  succession 
were  to  be  kings,  two  daughters  were  to  be  queens, 
and  all  were  to  die  without  posterity.  The  pre- 
dictions were  fulfilled  so  exactly,  that  many  his- 
torians have  believed  that  they  were  made  after  the 
facts. 

Everyone  knows  that  Nostradamus  produced  at 
the  Chateau  of  Chaumont,  when  Catherine  went 
thither  at  the  time  of  La  Renaudie's  conspiracy,  a 
woman  who  possessed  the  gift  of  reading  the  future. 
And,  during  the  reign  of  Frangois  II.,  when  the 
queen's  four  sons  were  all  young  and  in  good 
health,  before  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  de  Valois 
to  Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain,  before  the  marriage  of 
Marguerite  de  Valois  to  Henri  de  Bourbon,  King 
of  Navarre,  Nostradamus  and  his  friend  confirmed 
the  predictions  of  the  famous  horoscope.  That 
female,  who  doubtless  was  endowed  with  second- 
sight,  and  who  belonged  to  the  great  school  of  inde- 
'fatigable  seekers  after  the  philosopher's  stone,  but 


368  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

whose  private  life  has  escaped  the  researches  of 
historians,  declared  that  the  last  of  the  sons  to  wear 
a  crown  would  die  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 
After  placing  the  queen  in  front  of  a  magic  mirror, 
wherein  was  reflected  a  wheel,  with  the  face  of  one 
of  her  children  on  each  spoke,  the  sorceress  set  the 
wheel  in  motion,  and  the  queen  counted  the  number 
of  revolutions  it  made.  Each  revolution  represented 
one  year's  reign  for  each  child.  When  Henri  IV. 
was  placed  on  the  wheel,  it  made  twenty-two  revo- 
lutions. The  woman — some  authors  say  it  was  a 
man — informed  the  horrified  queen  that  Henri  de 
Bourbon  would  actually  become  King  of  France  and 
would  reign  that  number  of  years.  Thereupon 
Queen  Catherine  swore  a  deadly  hatred  to  the 
Bearnais,  learning  that  he  was  destined  to  succeed 
the  last  of  the  Valois  upon  his  assassination.  Being 
curious  to  learn  what  manner  of  death  her  own 
would  be,  she  was  told  to  beware  of  Saint-Germain. 
From  that  day,  believing  that  she  was  likely  to  be 
imprisoned  or  put  to  death  at  the  chateau  of  Saint- 
Germain,  she  never  set  foot  within  its  doors,  al- 
though it  was  far  more  convenient  for  the  execution 
of  her  designs,  because  of  its  nearness  to  Paris, 
than  all  those  where  she  and  the  king  sought  shelter 
during  the  civil  disturbances.  When  she  fell  sick 
a  few  days  after  the  murder  of  the  Due  de  Guise, 
during  the  session  of  the  States-General  at  Blois, 
she  asked  the  name  of  the  prelate  who  attended  her, 
and  was  told  that  it  was  Saint-Germain. 
**  I  am  a  dead  woman!"  she  cried. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  369 

She  died  the  next  day,  having  lived  the  full  num- 
ber of  years  that  all  her  horoscopes  allotted  her. 

These  prophecies,  which  were  known  to  the  Car- 
dinal de  Lorraine,  who  called  them  witchcraft,  were 
now  being  fulfilled.  Francois  II.  had  reigned  only  his 
two  turns  of  the  wheel,  and  Charles  IX.  was  making 
his  last  turn.  The  strange  words  which  Catherine 
said  to  her  son  Henri  on  his  departure  for  Poland: 
"You  will  soon  return!"  must  be  attributed  to  her 
faith  in  the  occult  sciences,  and  not  to  a  purpose 
to  poison  Charles  IX.  Marguerite  of  France  was 
Queen  of  Navarre,  Elisabeth  was  Queen  of  Spain, 
the  Due  d'Anjou  was  King  of  Poland. 

Many  other  circumstances  tended  to  confirm  Cath- 
erine's faith  in  the  occult  sciences.  During  the  night 
before  the  jousting  in  which  Henri  II.  was  fatally 
wounded,  Catherine  saw  the  fatal  blow  in  a  dream. 
Her  astrological  council,  consisting  of  Nostradamus 
and  the  two  Ruggieri,  had  predicted  the  king's  death. 
History  has  recorded  Catherine's  prayer  to  Henri  II. 
not  to  enter  the  lists.  The  prognostication  and  the 
dream  produced  by  it  were  realized.  The  memoirs 
of  the  time  report  another  incident  no  less  strange. 
The  courier  who  announced  the  victory  of  Moncon- 
tour  arrived  at  night,  after  making  the  journey  so 
swiftly  that  he  had  killed  three  horses.  The  queen- 
mother  was  awakened  to  hear  the  news,  and  said: 
"  I  know  it." — According  to  Brantome,  she  had  ac- 
tually described  her  son's  triumph  and  some  details  of 
the  battle,  on  the  preceding  day.  The  astrologer 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon  declared  that  Antoine  de 
24 


370  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Bourbon's  son,  the  scion  of  so  many  princes  de- 
scended from  Saint-Louis,  would  be  King  of  France. 
That  prediction,  reported  by  Sully,  was  fulfilled 
according  to  the  precise  terms  of  the  horoscope, 
which  fact  caused  Henri  IV.  to  remark  that  by  dint 
of  much  lying  those  people  sometimes  stumbled 
on  the  truth.  However  that  may  be,  if  it  be  true 
that  the  majority  of  the  most  sagacious  men  of  that 
period  believed  in  the  far-reaching  science  called 
Magism  by  the  masters  of  the  science  of  astrology, 
and  Witchcraft  by  the  public  at  large,  they  were 
justified  in  that  belief  by  the  successful  casting  of 
horoscopes. 

It  was  for  Cosmo  Ruggieri,  her  mathematician, 
astronomer,  astrologer,  sorcerer,  if  you  choose,  that 
Catherine  built  the  column  now  standing  against 
the  wall  of  the  wheat  market,  the  last  remnant 
of  the  H6tel  de  Soissons.  Cosmo  Ruggieri  possessed 
the  same  mysterious  influence  that  a  confessor  pos- 
sesses, and  with  it,  like  a  confessor,  he  was  content. 
He  cherished,  moreover,  an  ambitious  aspiration 
superior  to  ordinary  ambition.  That  man,  whom 
novelists  and  dramatists  represent  as  a  mountebank, 
owned  the  rich  abbey  of  Saint-Mahe,  in  Lower 
Bretagne,  and  had  declined  exalted  ecclesiastical 
dignities;  the  money  which  the  superstitious  pas- 
sions of  the  time  brought  to  him  in  abundance 
sufficed  for  his  secret  enterprises,  and  the  queen's 
hand,  extended  over  his  head,  protected  his  every 
hair  from  harm. 

As  for  the  thirst  for  power  by  which  Catherine 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  37I 

was  devoured,  her  craving  for  it  was  so  great  that, 
in  order  to  seize  it,  she  formed  an  alliance  with  the 
Guises,  the  enemies  of  the  throne;  and,  to  keep  the 
reins  of  State  in  her  hands,  she  resorted  to  every 
means,  freely  sacrificing  her  friends  and  even  her 
children.  That  woman  could  live  only  by  political 
intrigue,  as  a  gambler  lives  only  by  the  excitement 
of  play.  Although  she  was  an  Italian,  of  the  licen- 
tious race  of  the  Medici,  even  the  Calvinists,  who 
slandered  her  so  savagely,  could  never  discover  that 
she  had  a  lover.  Admiring  the  maxim:  Divide  to 
reign,  she  had  learned  twelve  years  before  to  keep 
one  force  constantly  contending  with  another.  As 
soon  as  she  took  the  reins  of  public  affairs  in  her 
hands,  she  was  forced  to  kindle  discord  between  two 
rival  families  in  order  to  neutralize  their  forces  and 
save  the  crown.  That  necessary  course  of  conduct 
justifies  the  prediction  of  Henri  II.  Catherine  in- 
vented that  game  of  political  seesaw  which  has  been 
imitated  since  by  all  princes  who  have  found  them- 
selves in  a  position  analogous  to  hers,  now  pitting  Cal- 
vinists against  Guises,  now  pitting  Guises  against 
Calvinists.  After  setting  the  two  religions  to  strug- 
gle with  each  other  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
Catherine  set  up  the  Due  d' Anjou  against  Charles  IX. 
After  making  use  of  things,  she  made  use  of  men, 
retaining  the  threads  of  all  their  selfish  interests  in 
her  own  hands.  But  at  that  terrible  game,  which 
requires  the  head  of  a  Louis  XI.  or  a  Louis  XVIII., 
one  inevitably  incurs  the  hatred  of  all  parties  and 
finds  one's  self  under  the  necessity  of  conquering 


372  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

always,  for  the  loss  of  a  single  battle  makes  every 
selfish  interest  an  enemy;  unless,  indeed,  by  dint  of 
triumphing  again  and  again,  you  end  by  finding  that 
there  are  no  more  players. 

The  greater  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.  was 
the  triumph  of  the  domestic  policy  of  that  extraor- 
dinary woman.  How  much  adroitness  Catherine 
was  obliged  to  display  to  obtain  the  command  of  the 
army  for  the  Due  d'Anjou,  under  a  gallant  young 
king,  thirsty  for  renown,  capable  and  noble-hearted, 
and  in  the  lifetime  of  Connetable  Anne  de  Mont- 
morency! In  the  eyes  of  the  statesmen  of  Europe, 
the  Due  d'Anjou  reaped  all  the  honor  of  the  Saint- 
Bartholomew,  while  Charles  IX.  incurred  all  the 
odium  therefor.  After  arousing  in  the  king's  mind 
a  secret,  causeless  jealousy  of  his  brother,  she  made 
use  of  that  passion  to  wear  out  the  great  qualities 
Charles  IX.  really  possessed  in  the  intrigues  of  a 
rivalry  between  brothers.  Cypierre,  the  king's 
first  governor,  and  Amyot,  his  tutor,  had  made  their 
pupil  so  great  a  man,  they  had  paved  the  way  for  so 
noble  a  reign,  that  the  mother  hated  her  son  from 
the  first  day  when  she  was  conscious  of  a  fear  of 
losing  the  power  which  she  had  so  laboriously 
acquired.  From  these  facts,  most  historians  have 
evolved  the  theory  of  a  predilection  on  the  queen- 
mother's  part  for  Henri  III.;  but  her  conduct  at  the 
time  of  which  we  write  demonstrates  the  absolute 
insensibility  of  her  heart  toward  her  children.  By 
accepting  the  throne  of  Poland,  the  Due  d'Anjou  de- 
prived her  of  the  instrument  she  needed  to  keep  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  373 

king  engrossed  by  those  domestic  intrigues  which  up 
to  that  time  had  neutralized  his  energy  by  affording 
pasturage  for  his  violent  passions.  Thereupon  Cath- 
erine invented  the  conspiracy  of  La  Mole  and  Co- 
connas,  in  which  a  hand  was  taken  by  the  Due 
d'Alenfon,  who,  when  he  became  Due  d'Anjou  by 
his  brother's  accession  to  the  throne,  very  obligingly 
fell  in  with  his  mother's  views,  exhibiting  an  am- 
bitious spirit  which  was  encouraged  by  his  sister 
Marguerite,  Queen  of  Navarre.  This  conspiracy, 
which  had  now  reached  the  point  to  which  Cather- 
ine wished  to  bring  it,  had  for  its  object  the  placing 
the  young  duke  and  his  brother-in-law,  the  King  of 
Navarre,  at  the  head  of  the  Calvinists,  seizing 
upon  Charles  IX.  and  holding  as  a  prisoner  that 
heirless  king, — thus  leaving  the  throne  to  the  duke, 
whose  purpose  was  to  establish  Calvinism  in  France. 
Calvin  had  obtained,  a  few  days  before  his  death, 
the  reward  to  which  he  had  looked  forward  so  long 
and  so  eagerly,  when  the  Reformation  adopted  the 
designation  Calvinism  in  his  honor. 

If  Le  Laboureur  and  the  most  careful  authors  had 
not  already  proved  that  La  Mole  and  Coconnas — who 
were  arrested  seven  weeks  after  the  night  on  which 
this  narrative  begins,  and  beheaded  in  the  month  of 
April  following — were  the  victims  of  the  queen- 
mother's  political  scheming,  Cosmo  Ruggieri's  par- 
ticipation in  the  affair  would  be  sufficient  to  make 
one  reasonably  certain  that  she  secretly  directed 
their  undertaking.  That  man,  of  whom  the  king  en- 
tertained suspicions  and  against  whom  he  cherished 


374  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

a  bitter  hatred,  the  reasons  for  which  will  be  suf- 
ficently  explained  hereafter,  was  implicated  in  the 
criminal  proceedings.  He  admitted  that  he  had 
furnished  La  Mole  with  a  figure  representing  the 
king,  pierced  to  the  heart  by  two  needles.  That 
form  of  sorcery  —  envouter — constituted,  in  those 
days,  a  capital  crime.  The  word  expresses  one  of 
the  most  fascinating,  infernal  images  that  hatred 
can  conjure  up;  moreover,  it  depicts  admirably  the 
magnetic,  terrible  working,  in  the  unseen  world,  of 
a  constant  desire  encompassing  the  person  thus 
doomed  to  death,  its  effects  being  constantly 
brought  to  mind  by  the  wax  figure.  The  law  in 
those  days  held,  and  justly,  that  a  thought  to  which 
bodily  form  was  given  constituted  the  crime  of 
l^se-majeste.  Charles  IX.  demanded  the  Floren- 
tine's death;  Catherine,  who  was  more  powerful, 
prevailed  upon  the  Parliament,  through  Counsellor 
Lecamus,  to  sentence  her  astrologer  to  the  galleys 
only.  After  the  king's  death,  Cosmo  Ruggieri  was 
pardoned  by  order  of  Henri  III.,  who  restored  his 
pensions  and  received  him  at  court. 

Catherine  had  dealt  so  many  blows  at  her  son's 
heart  that  he  was  at  that  moment  impatient  to  shake 
off  his  mother's  yoke.  During  Marie  Touchet's  ab- 
sence, Charles,  having  nothing  to  occupy  his  mind, 
had  devoted  himself  to  watching  the  progress  of 
affairs  about  him.  He  had  very  craftily  laid  snares 
for  people  upon  whom  he  thought  that  he  could  de- 
pend, in  order  to  test  their  loyalty.  He  had  watched 
his  mother's  manoeuvres  and  had  concealed  his  own 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  375 

from  her,  making  use  of  all  the  faults  she  had  sown 
in  him  to  deceive  her.  Consumed  with  the  desire 
to  wipe  out  the  horror  caused  in  France  by  the 
Saint  Bartholomew,  he  turned  his  attention  ener- 
getically to  public  business,  presided  over  the  coun- 
cil, and  tried  to  grasp  the  reins  of  government  by  a 
skilfully  devised  course  of  conduct.  Although  the 
«4jeen  had  tried  to  combat  her  son's  inclination  by 
employing  all  the  means  of  influence  over  his  mind 
which  her  maternal  authority  and  her  habit  of  domi- 
nation gave  her,  the  downward  slope  of  suspicion 
was  so  steep  that  the  son  at  the  first  impulse  went 
too  far  to  return.  On  the  day  when  the  words  his 
mother  had  said  to  the  King  of  Poland  were  reported 
to  him,  Charles  IX.  was  feeling  in  such  a  wretched 
state  of  health  that  he  conceived  horrible  suspicions, 
and  when  such  suspicions  invade  the  heart  of  a  son 
and  a  king,  nothing  can  expel  them.  In  fact,  on  his 
deathbed,  his  mother  was  obliged  to  interrupt  him, 
crying:  "  Do  not  say  that,  monsieur!"  when,  as  he 
commended  his  wife  and  daughter  to  the  care  of 
Henri  IV.,  he  attempted  to  put  him  on  his  guard 
against  Catherine.  Although  Charles  IX.  showed 
no  lack  of  that  external  respect,  of  which  the  queen- 
mother  was  always  so  tenacious  that  she  always 
called  the  kings  her  sons  "  Monsieur,"  she  had  noticed 
in  her  son's  manners  for  several  months  past  the  ill- 
disguised  irony  of  one  who  had  determined  to  be  re- 
venged. But  to  deceive  Catherine,  a  man  must  have 
been  very  clever.  She  held  in  readiness  the  con- 
spiracy of  the  Due  d'Alencon  and  La  Mole,  in  order 


376  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

to  turn  aside,  by  representing  another  brother  as  a 
rival,  the  efforts  Charles  IX.  was  making  to  effect 
his  emancipation;  but,  before  making  use  of  it,  she 
wished  to  banish  suspicions  which  might  make  any 
reconciliation  between  herself  and  her  son  impos- 
sible; for  would  he  leave  the  royal  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  mother  whom  he  believed  to  be  capable 
of  poisoning  him?  Indeed,  she  considered  that  her 
position  was  so  seriously  threatened  at  that  moment, 
that  she  had  summoned  her  kinsman,  Strozzi,  a 
soldier  noted  for  his  prompt  execution  of  orders. 
She  held  secret  councils  with  Birague  and  the  two 
Gondis,  and  never  before  had  she  consulted  her 
oracle  at  the  Hotel  de  Soissons  so  frequently. 

Although  lapse  of  time,  as  well  as  the  habit  of  dis- 
simulation, had  given  Catherine  that  abbess's  face, 
haughty  and  macerated,  of  the  whiteness  of  wax  yet 
full  of  subtlety,  inscrutable  yet  searching, — a  re- 
markable face  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  have  studied 
her  portrait, — the  courtiers  detected  some  clouded 
spots  upon  that  Florentine  ice.  No  sovereign  was 
ever  more  imposing  than  that  woman  had  been  since 
the  day  when  she  succeeded  in  putting  down  the 
Guises  after  the  death  of  Francois  II.  Her  black 
velvet  cap  cut  in  a  point  over  the  forehead — she 
never  ceased  to  wear  mourning  for  Henri  II. — made 
a  sort  of  feminine  cowl  around  her  cold,  commanding 
face,  to  which,  however,  she  could  impart  on  occa- 
sion true  Italian  seductiveness.  She  was  so  well 
made  that  she  introduced  the  fashion  among  women 
of  riding  so  as  to  show  the  legs;  it  is  not  necessary 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  377 

to  say  that  hers  were  the  most  shapely  legs  imagin- 
able. All  women  rode  a  la  planchette  throughout 
Europe,  which  had  long  followed  the  lead  of  France 
in  matters  of  fashion.  To  him  who  can  form  a 
mental  picture  of  that  noble  figure,  the  scene  in  the 
great  hall  at  the  time  of  which  we  write  will  assume 
an  aspect  of  grandeur.  The  two  queens,  so  unlike 
in  character,  in  beauty,  in  costume,  and  almost  at 
daggers  drawn, — one  ingenuous  and  pensive,  the 
other  pensive  and  solemn  as  an  abstract  idea, — were 
both  too  much  absorbed  to  give  during  that  evening 
the  word  of  command  which  the  courtiers  were 
awaiting  to  become  animated. 

The  drama,  hidden  far  below  the  surface,  which 
the  mother  and  son  had  been  playing  for  six  months, 
had  been  detected  by  some  courtiers;  but  the  Italians, 
especially,  had  followed  it  with  a  watchful  eye,  for 
all  of  them  were  certain  to  be  sacrificed  if  Catherine 
should  lose  the  game.  Under  such  circumstances, 
and  at  a  time  when  mother  and  son  were  trying  to 
outwit  each  other,  the  king  was  the  object  of  especial 
attention.  On  the  evening  in  question,  Charles  IX., 
tired  out  by  a  long  day's  hunting  and  by  the  neces- 
sity of  concealing  his  serious  preoccupation,  seemed 
to  be  forty  years  old.  He  had  reached  the  last  stage 
of  the  disease  of  which  he  died  and  which  justified 
some  sober-minded  persons  in  thinking  that  he  was 
poisoned.  According  to  De  Thou,  the  Tacitus  of 
the  Valois  kings,  the  surgeons  found  suspicious  dis- 
colorations  in  Charles  IX. 's  body — ex  causa  incognita 
reperti  livores.     The  obsequies  of  that  prince  were 


378  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

even  more  neglected  than  those  of  Francois  II. 
Charles  IX.  was  escorted  from  Saint-Lazare  to 
Saint-Denis  by  Brantome  and  a  few  archers  of  the 
guard  commanded  by  the  Count  of  Solern.  That 
circumstance,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  mother's 
supposed  hatred  of  her  son,  tends  to  confirm  the 
charge  made  by  De  Thou;  but  it  certainly  justifies 
the  opinion  expressed  in  these  pages  as  to  Cath- 
erine's lack  of  affection  for  all  her  children;  an  in- 
sensibility which  is  explained  by  her  faith  in  the 
decrees  of  astrology.  She  could  hardly  feel  any 
deep  interest  in  instruments  which  were  soon  to  be 
taken  from  her.  Henri  III.  was  the  last  king  under 
whom  she  was  to  reign,  that  was  all.  We  may  be 
permitted  to-day  to  believe  that  Charles  IX.  died  a 
natural  death.  His  excesses,  his  mode  of  life,  the 
sudden  development  of  his  faculties,  his  last  efforts 
to  seize  the  reins  of  power,  his  longing  to  live,  his 
abuse  of  his  physical  forces,  his  last  sufferings  and 
his  last  pleasures,  all  tend  to  convince  unbiased 
minds  that  he  died  of  consumption,  a  disease  then 
little  known  and  not  carefully  studied,  whose  symp- 
toms might  have  led  Charles  IX.  himself  to  believe 
that  he  was  poisoned.  But  the  real  poison  that  his 
mother  administered  to  him  lay  in  the  deplorable 
advice  of  the  courtiers  who  were  stationed  about 
him  to  make  him  squander  his  physical  as  well  as 
his  intellectual  strength,  and  who  thus  brought  about 
his  purely  accidental  and  not  constitutional  malady. 
At  that  time,  more  than  at  any  other  in  his  life, 
Charles  IX.  displayed  a  gloomy  majesty  which  is 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  379 

not  unbecoming  to  kings.  The  grandeur  of  his 
secret  thoughts  was  reflected  on  his  face,  which 
was  noticeable  by  reason  of  the  Italian  complexion 
inherited  from  his  mother.  That  ivory-like  pallor, 
so  beautiful  by  artificial  light,  so  well  adapted  to  the 
expression  of  melancholy,  gave  undue  brilliancy  to 
the  fire  of  his  blue-black  eyes,  which,  being  confined 
between  thick  eyelids,  acquired  thereby  the  acute, 
sagacious  expression  which  the  imagination  demands 
in  a  kingly  glance;  their  color  was  favorable  to  dis- 
simulation. Charles  IX. 's  eyes  were  made  especially 
imposing  by  the  position  of  the  raised  eyebrows,  in 
harmony  with  the  broad  forehead  which  he  could 
raise  and  lower  at  will.  He  had  a  broad,  long  nose, 
thick  at  the  end,  a  veritable  lion's  nose;  large  ears, 
auburn  hair,  a  mouth  which  seemed  almost  to  be 
bleeding,  like  those  of  most  consumptives,  the  upper 
lip  thin  and  sneering,  the  lower  heavy  enough  to 
lead  one  to  infer  that  he  possessed  the  noblest 
qualities  of  heart.  The  deep  wrinkles  on  that  brow, 
whose  youthful  purity  had  been  marred  by  terrible 
anxieties,  aroused  intense  interest;  the  remorse 
caused  by  the  utter  uselessness  of  the  Saint  Bar- 
tholomew, a  measure  which  was  cunningly  extorted 
from  him,  had  caused  more  than  one  of  them;  but 
there  were  two  others  on  his  face  which  would  have 
been  very  eloquent  to  a  scholar  endowed  with  a 
special  genius  which  enabled  him  to  divine  the 
elements  of  modern  physiology.  Those  two  wrin- 
kles produced  a  sharply  defined  furrow  from  each 
cheek-bone  to  the  corner  of  the  mouth,  and  betrayed 


380  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

the  inward  struggles  of  an  organism  worn  out  in 
supplying  nourishment  for  the  labors  of  the  mind  and 
for  the  violent  pleasures  of  the  body.  Charles  IX. 
was  exhausted.  The  queen-mother,  upon  viewing 
her  work,  must  have  suffered  from  remorse,  if  indeed 
the  necessities  of  politics  do  not  stifle  that  sentiment 
in  all  persons  clothed  in  the  purple.  If  Catherine 
had  realized  the  effect  of  her  intrigues  upon  her  son, 
would  she,  perchance,  have  held  her  hand.?  What 
a  ghastly  spectacle!  That  king,  born  so  strong  and 
healthy,  had  become  feeble,  that  admirably  tempered 
mind  was  full  of  doubts;  that  man,  in  whom  all 
power  resided,  felt  that  he  was  without  support; 
that  firm  character  had  little  confidence  in  itself. 
Warlike  valor  had  changed  by  degrees  to  ferocity, 
discretion  to  dissimulation;  the  dainty,  refined  love 
of  the  Valois  to  an  insatiable  frantic  craving  for 
pleasure.  That  great  man,  misunderstood,  per- 
verted, worn  smooth  on  all  the  facets  of  his  noble 
soul,  a  king  without  power,  having  a  generous  heart 
but  not  a  friend,  driven  hither  and  thither  by  a 
thousand  opposing  plans,  presented  the  melancholy 
spectacle  of  a  man  of  twenty-four  who  had  lost 
all  his  illusions,  was  suspicious  of  everything,  and 
had  determined  to  stake  everything,  even  his  life. 
Within  a  short  time,  he  had  awakened  to  a  realizing 
sense  of  his  mission,  his  power,  his  resources,  and 
the  obstacles  which  his  mother  placed  in  the  way 
of  the  pacification  of  the  kingdom;  but  that  newly- 
acquired  light  shone  in  a  broken  lantern. 


Two  men  whom  this  prince  loved  so  well  that  he 
had  excepted  one  of  them  from  the  massacre  of  Saint 
Bartholomew,  and  had  gone  to  dine  with  the  other 
at  the  time  when  his  enemies  accused  him  of  having 
given  poison  to  the  king, — his  first  surgeon  Ambroise 
Pare  and  his  first  physician  Jean  Chapelain, — had 
come  from  the  provinces  in  hot  haste  at  a  summons 
from  Catherine,  and  had  arrived  at  the  Louvre  in 
time  for  the  king's  retiring.  Both  were  watching 
their  master  anxiously,  and  some  courtiers  ques- 
tioned them  in  undertones;  but  the  two  learned 
men  measured  their  replies,  concealing  the  death- 
sentence  which  they  had  mentally  pronounced.  From 
time  to  time  the  king  raised  his  heavy  eyelids  and 
tried  to  hide  from  the  courtiers  the  glance  he  cast  at 
his  mother.  Suddenly  he  rose  and  stood  in  front  of 
the  fireplace. 

"Monsieur  de  Chiverni,"  he  said,  "why  do  you 
retain  the  title  of  Chancellor  of  Anjou  and  Poland.? 
Are  you  in  our  service  or  our  brother's?" 

"I  am  entirely  at  your  service,  sire,"  replied 
Chiverni,  bowing  low. 

"  In  that  case,  come  to-morrow;  I  have  it  in  mind 
to  send  you  to  Spain,  for  strange  things  are  happen- 
ing at  the  court  of  Madrid,  messieurs." 

The  king  glanced  at  his  wife  and  threw  himself 
back  into  his  chair. 

(381) 


382  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Strange  things  are  happening  everywhere,"  he 
said,  in  an  undertone,  to  the  Marechal  de  Tavannes, 
one  of  the  favorite  friends  of  his  youth. 

He  rose  again  and  led  the  companion  of  his  youth- 
ful amusements  into  the  embrasure  of  the  window 
at  the  corner  of  the  room,  and  said  to  him: 

"  I  have  need  of  you,  stay  until  the  last.  I  wish 
to  ascertain  whether  you  will  be  for  me  or  against 
me.  Do  not  look  surprised.  I  am  breaking  my 
leash.  My  mother  is  the  cause  of  all  the  evil  here. 
Three  months  hence  I  shall  either  be  dead,  or  king 
in  fact  as  well  as  in  name.  Silence,  on  your  life! 
You  have  my  secret,  you  and  Solern  and  Villeroy. 
If  it  becomes  known,  it  will  be  through  one  of  you 
three.  Do  not  keep  so  close  to  me,  go  and  pay 
court  to  my  mother,  tell  her  that  I  am  dying  and 
that  you  do  not  regret  it,  because  I  am  a  poor 
creature." 

Charles  IX.  walked  back  and  forth  with  his  hand 
resting  on  his  former  favorite's  shoulder,  ostensibly 
talking  to  him  about  his  aches  and  pains,  to  mislead 
the  curious  onlookers;  then,  fearing  that  his  cold- 
ness might  be  too  apparent,  he  went  to  talk  with  the 
two  queens,  calling  to  Birague  to  join  them.  At  that 
moment,  Pinard,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  State, 
glided  like  an  eel  along  the  wall  from  the  door  to 
Catherine's  chair.  He  whispered  a  word  or  two  in 
the  queen-mother's  ear,  to  which  she  replied  with  a 
nod.  The  king  did  not  ask  his  mother  what  they 
had  said  to  each  other,  but  returned  to  his  chair 
and  said  nothing,  after  casting  a  glance  of  withering 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  383 

anger  and  jealousy  upon  the  whole  court.  That 
little  incident  was  of  the  utmost  moment  in  the  eyes 
of  all.  It  was  like  the  drop  of  water  which  makes 
the  glass  overflow — that  cool  exercise  of  authority 
by  the  queen-mother  without  reference  to  the  king. 
Queen  Elisabeth  and  the  Comtesse  de  Fiesco  with- 
drew, unnoticed  by  the  king;  but  the  queen-mother 
accompanied  her  daughter-in-law  to  the  door.  Al- 
though the  evident  falling-out  between  the  mother 
and  the  son  imparted  the  very  greatest  interest  to  the 
movements,  the  glances,  and  the  attitudes  of  both, 
their  cold  demeanor  gave  the  courtiers  to  under- 
stand that  they  were  in  the  way;  they  left  the  hall 
when  the  young  queen  had  gone.  At  ten  o'clock, 
there  remained  only  a  few  intimate  friends, — the  two 
Gondis,  Tavannes,  the  Count  of  Solern,  Birague, 
and  the  queen-mother. 

The  king  remained  buried  in  the  blackest  melan- 
choly. The  silence  was  most  tedious.  Catherine 
seemed  embarrassed,  she  wished  to  retire,  she 
wished  that  the  king  should  escort  her  from  the 
room;  but  the  king  remained  absorbed  in  his  rev- 
erie; she  rose  to  bid  him  good-night,  Charles  IX. 
was  compelled  to  follow  her  example;  she  took  his 
arm  and  walked  a  few  steps  with  him  so  that  she 
could  put  her  lips  to  his  ear  and  whisper: 

"Monsieur,  I  have  some  important  matters  to 
discuss  with  you." 

Before  leaving  the  room,  the  queen-mother  glanced 
into  a  mirror  and  bestowed  upon  the  two  Gondis  a 
wink  which  escaped  the  king's  notice  as  he  was  at 


384  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

the  same  moment  glancing  significantly  at  the 
Count  of  Solern  and  Villeroy.  Tavannes  was  lost 
in  thought. 

"  Sire,"  said  the  Marechal  de  Retz,  emerging  from 
his  meditation,  "  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  royally 
bored;  pray,  do  you  never  amuse  yourself  now? 
yive-Dieu!  where  are  the  times  when  we  used  to 
divert  ourselves  by  wandering  around  the  streets  at 
night  like  vagabonds?" 

"Ah!  those  were  the  good  old  times,"  the  king 
replied,  not  without  a  sigh. 

"Why  do  you  not  go?"  said  Birague,  with  a 
glance  at  the  Gondis. 

"  I  always  remember  those  days  with  great  pleas- 
ure," cried  the  Marechal  de  Retz. 

"  I  would  like  right  well  to  see  you  on  the  roofs. 
Monsieur  le  Marechal,"  said  Tavannes.  "  May  you 
break  your  neck,  damned  Italian  cat!"  he  added  in 
the  king's  ear. 

"  I  cannot  say  whether  you  or  I  would  cross  a 
courtyard  or  a  street  the  faster;  but  what  I  do  know 
is  that  neither  of  us  is  more  afraid  of  death  than  the 
other,"  replied  the  Due  de  Retz. 

"  Well,  sire,  do  you  feel  like  playing  the  vagabond 
as  in  your  youth?"  said  the  grand  master  of  the  ward- 
robe. 

It  will  be  seen  that,  at  twenty -four,  tne  unhappy 
king  no  longer  seemed  young  to  anybody,  even  to 
his  flatterers.  Tavannes  and  he  recalled,  like  school- 
boys, some  of  the  amusing  capers  they  had  cut  in 
Paris,  and   the   excursion  was   speedily  arranged. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  385 

The  two  Italians,  being  challenged  to  leap  from  roof 
to  roof,  and  from  one  side  of  the  street  to  the  other, 
offered  to  wager  that  they  would  follow  the  king. 
They  separated  to  assume  the  costume  of  vagabonds. 
The  Count  of  Solern,  remaining  alone  with  the 
king,  gazed  at  him  in  amazement.  Although  the 
worthy  German,  whose  compassion  had  been  aroused 
when  he  discovered  the  king's  position,  was  the 
soul  of  loyalty  and  honor,  he  lacked  quickness  of 
perception.  Surrounded  by  people  who  were  hos- 
tile to  him,  unable  to  trust  anybody,  even  his  wife, 
— who  had  been  guilty  of  some  indiscretions,  not 
knowing  that  his  mother  and  her  servants  were  his 
enemies, — Charles  IX.  had  been  fortunate  enough  to 
find  in  the  Count  of  Solern  a  whole-souled  devotion 
which  warranted  perfect  confidence.  Tavannes  and 
Villeroy  knew  only  a  portion  of  the  king's  secrets. 
The  Count  of  Solern  alone  knew  the  whole  plan; 
he  was,  moreover,  especially  useful  to  his  master 
in  that  he  had  at  his  disposal  a  number  of  trust- 
worthy and  attached  retainers  who  obeyed  his  or- 
ders blindly.  The  count,  who  held  a  commission 
in  the  archers  of  the  guard,  had  been  engaged  for 
some  time  in  sifting  out  men  who  were  devotedly 
attached  to  the  king  to  form  a  picked  company. 
The  king  thought  of  everything. 

"  Well,  Solern,"  said  Charles,  **  do  we  not  need 
an  excuse  for  passing  the  night  out-of-doors?  I 
had  Madame  de  Belleville  for  a  pretext,  to  be  sure; 
but  this  is  much  better,  for  my  mother  may  find  out 
what  happened  at  Marie's." 
25 


386  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI " 

Solern,  who  was  to  accompany  the  king,  asked 
permission  to  beat  up  the  streets  with  some  of  his 
Germans,  and  Charles  consented.  About  eleven 
o'clock,  the  king,  who  had  become  very  gay,  started 
out  with  his  three  courtiers  to  explore  the  Saint- 
Honore  quarter. 

"  I  will  go  and  surprise  my  love,"  said  Charles  to 
Tavannes,  turning  into  Rue  de  I'Autruche. 

To  make  this  night  scene  more  intelligible  to  those 
persons  who  have  not  the  topography  of  old  Paris  in 
their  minds,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  where  Rue  de 
I'Autruche  was.  The  construction  of  the  Louvre 
of  Henri  II.  was  being  continued  amid  houses  and 
heaps  of  ruins.  On  the  site  of  the  wing  which 
to-day  faces  the  Pont  des  Arts  there  was  a  garden. 
In  the  place  where  the  colonnade  now  stands, 
there  were  moats  and  a  drawbridge,  upon  which 
a  Florentine,  the  Marechal  d'Ancre,  was  one  day 
to  be  assassinated.  At  the  end  of  the  garden  rose 
the  towers  of  the  H6tel  de  Bourbon,  the  residence 
of  the  princes  of  that  house  down  to  the  day  when 
the  treachery  of  the  great  Connetable  de  Bourbon, 
ruined  by  the  sequestration  of  his  property  which 
Francois  I.  ordered,  to  avoid  pronouncing  judgment 
as  between  his — Francois's — mother  and  the  con- 
stable, terminated  that  lawsuit  so  fatal  to  France  by 
the  confiscation  of  his  whole  estate.  That  mansion, 
which  produced  an  imposing  effect  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  was  not  demolished  until  the  days  of 
Louis  XIV.  Rue  de  I'Autruche  began  at  Rue  Saint- 
Honore  and  ended  at  the  H6tel  de  Bourbon  on  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  387 

quay.  It  was  called  Rue  d'Autriche  on  some  old 
plans,  Rue  de  I'Austruc  on  others,  but  has  now  dis- 
appeared from  the  map  like  so  many  others.  Rue 
des  Poulies  is  probably  laid  out  on  the  site  of  the 
houses  toward  the  Rue  Saint-Honore  end.  The  au- 
thorities are  not  agreed  as  to  the  etymology  of  the 
name.  Some  suppose  that  it  comes  from  a  H6tel 
d'Osteriche — Osterrichen — occupied  by  a  daughter 
of  that  family  who  married  a  French  nobleman  in 
the  fourteenth  century.  Others  claim  that  the  royal 
aviaries  used  to  be  on  that  street,  and  that  all  Paris 
flocked  thither  at  one  time  to  see  a  live  ostrich — 
autruche.  Be  that  as  it  may,  that  crooked  street  was 
notable  by  reason  of  the  mansions  of  several  princes 
of  the  blood  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Louvre.  Since  royalty  had  deserted  Faubourg  Saint- 
Antoine,  where  it  sheltered  itself  under  the  walls  of 
the  Bastille  for  two  centuries,  to  take  up  its  abode 
at  the  Louvre,  many  great  noblemen  had  established 
themselves  in  the  neighborhood.  Now,  at  the  Rue 
Saint-Honore  end  of  the  Rue  de  I'Autruche,  corre- 
sponding to  the  H6tel  de  Bourbon  on  the  quay,  was  the 
old  Hotel  d'Alenfon.  That  residence  of  the  counts  of 
that  name,  which  was  always  included  in  the  appa- 
nage of  the  title,  belonged  at  this  time  to  the  fourth 
son  of  Henri  IL,  who  subsequently  assumed  the 
title  of  Due  d'Anjou,  and  who  died  under  Henri  III., 
whom  he  caused  a  deal  of  trouble.  The  appanage 
thereupon  reverted  to  the  crown,  including  the  old 
mansion,  which  was  torn  down.  In  those  days,  a 
prince's  palace  included  a  vast  number  of  buildings; 


388  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

to  form  an  idea  of  their  extent,  one  should  measure 
the  space  covered  by  the  Hotel  Soubise  in  the 
Marais,  to-day.  A  hotel  included  all  the  appurte- 
nances demanded  by  those  magnificent  existences 
which  may  well  appear  problematical  to  many 
persons  who  see  the  paltry  condition  of  a  prince  of 
to-day.  There  were  enormous  stables,  quarters  for 
physicians,  librarians,  chancellors,  clergy,  treasurers, 
officers  of  the  household,  pages,  paid  retainers,  and 
valets  attached  to  the  prince's  service.  Near  Rue 
Saint-Honore,  in  a  garden  of  the  mansion,  was 
a  pretty  little  house  which  the  famous  Duchesse 
d'Alenfon  built  in  1520,  and  which  had  afterward 
been  surrounded  by  private  houses  built  by  trades- 
men. There  the  king  had  installed  Marie  Touchet. 
Although  the  Due  d'Alengon  was  conspiring  against 
his  brother,  he  was  incapable  of  thwarting  him  on 
that  point. 

As  it  was  necessary  to  pass  his  loved  one's  house, 
in  order  to  descend  Rue  Saint-Honore,  which  in  those 
days  offered  no  opportunity  for  footpads  except  be- 
yond the  Barri^re  des  Sergents,  it  would  have  been 
hard  for  the  king  not  to  stop  there.  In  quest  of 
adventures,  looking  for  some  belated  bourgeois  to 
pillage  or  a  patrol  to  fight,  he  looked  up  at  all  the 
windows,  and  closely  scrutinized  those  in  which 
there  were  lights,  to  see  what  was  going  on  or  to 
listen  to  conversations.  But  he  found  his  good  city 
in  a  deplorable  state  of  tranquillity.  Suddenly,  as 
they  were  passing  the  house  of  a  famous  perfumer 
named   Rene,   who    supplied   the  court,   the   king 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  389 

seemed  to  conceive  one  of  those  sudden  inspirations 
which  are  suggested  by  previous  observations,  as  he 
noticed  a  bright  light  in  the  last  window  under  the 
eaves. 

This  perfumer  was  strongly  suspected  of  curing 
rich  uncles  when  they  claimed  to  be  ill;  the  court 
ascribed  to  him  the  invention  of  the  famous  Elixir 
of  Inheritances,  and  he  was  accused  of  having  poi- 
soned Jeanne  d'Albret,  mother  of  Henri  IV.,  who 
was  buried  without  her  head  having  been  opened, 
despite  the  formal  order  of  Charles  IX.,  says  a  con- 
temporary. For  two  months  past,  the  king  had  been 
trying  to  invent  some  stratagem  whereby  he  could 
pry  into  the  secrets  of  Rene's  laboratory,  which 
Cosmo  Ruggieri  often  visited.  The  king  proposed, 
if  he  should  find  anything  suspicious,  to  proceed 
personally  in  the  matter  without  the  intervention  of 
police  or  law  officers,  upon  whom  his  mother  would 
act  by  fear  or  bribery. 

It  is  certain  that,  during  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  and  follow- 
ing it,  poisoning  had  attained  a  degree  of  perfection 
unknown  to  modern  chemistry,  as  history  has  re- 
corded. Italy,  the  cradle  of  modern  science,  was  at 
that  period  the  inventor  and  mistress  of  these  secret 
processes,  many  of  which  are  lost.  Thence  the  un- 
savory reputation  which  Italians  bore  for  the  two 
following  centuries.  Novelists  have  overworked  it 
to  such  a  degree  that  they  never  introduce  Italians 
who  do  not  play  the  part  of  assassins  and  poisoners. 
If  Italy  then  monopolized  the  traffic  in  subtle  poisons 


390  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDJCI 

of  which  some  historians  speak,  we  must  simply 
recognize  her  supremacy  in  toxicology  as  in  all 
branches  of  human  knowledge  and  in  the  arts,  in 
which  she  led  the  way  for  all  Europe.  The  crimes 
of  the  period  were  not  hers,  she  served  the  pas- 
sions of  the  age  just  as  she  built  splendid  edifices, 
commanded  armies,  painted  beautiful  frescoes,  sang 
songs,  loved  queens,  made  herself  attractive  to 
kings,  planned  festivals  or  ballets,  and  guided  poli- 
cies. At  Florence,  that  ghastly  art  had  attained 
such  perfection  that  a  woman  dividing  a  peach  with 
a  duke,  using  a  knife  with  a  golden  blade,  of  which 
only  one  side  had  been  poisoned,  ate  the  unpoisoned 
half  and  dealt  out  death  with  the  other.  A  pair  of 
scented  gloves  instilled  a  fatal  disease  through  the 
pores.  Poison  was  placed  in  a  bouquet  of  natural 
roses,  of  which  the  mere  perfume,  inhaled  once, 
would  cause  death.  Don  John  of  Austria  is  said  to 
have  been  poisoned  by  a  pair  of  boots. 

Thus  King  Charles  IX.  was  justifiably  curious, 
and  the  reader  will  easily  imagine  that  the  sombre 
suspicions  which  filled  his  mind  made  him  impatient 
to  surprise  Rene  at  work. 

The  old  fountain,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Rue  de 
I'Arbre-Sec,  since  rebuilt,  afforded  the  noble  band 
the  means  of  reaching  the  roof  of  a  house  adjoining 
Rene's,  whom  the  king  pretended  that  he  intended 
to  visit.  Followed  by  his  companions,  he  began  to 
climb  along  the  roofs  to  the  dire  alarm  of  divers 
worthy  bourgeois  awakened  by  these  pretended  rob- 
bers, who  called  them  absurd  names,  listened  to  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  391 

quarrels  and  diversions  of  eacii  household,  and  in 
some  cases  began  to  force  an  entrance.  When  the 
Italians  saw  Tavannes  and  the  king  step  on  the  roof 
of  the  house  adjoining  Rene's,  the  Marechal  de  Retz 
sat  down,  saying  that  he  was  tired,  and  his  brother 
remained  by  his  side. 

"  So  much  the  better,"  thought  the  king,  who 
was  very  glad  to  leave  his  spies  behind. 

Tavannes  made  sport  of  the  two  Florentines,  who 
were  left  alone  amid  profound  silence,  and  in  a  place 
where  they  had  naught  but  the  sky  over  their  heads 
and  only  cats  for  auditors.  They  availed  themselves 
of  that  circumstance  to  exchange  thoughts  which  they 
would  not  have  expressed  in  words  in  any  other  spot 
on  earth,  thoughts  suggested  by  the  events  of  the 
evening. 

"Albert,"  said  the  grand  master  to  the  marshal, 
"the  king  will  prevail  over  the  queen;  we  are 
making  a  great  mistake,  so  far  as  our  own  fortunes 
are  concerned,  by  remaining  faithful  to  Catherine's. 
If  we  go  over  to  the  king  at  the  moment  when 
he  is  looking  for  supporters  against  his  mother  and 
adroit  men  to  serve  him,  we  shall  not  be  driven 
away  like  wild  beasts  when  the  queen-mother  is 
banished,  imprisoned,  or  killed." 

"  With  such  ideas  as  those,  you  will  not  prosper, 
Charles,"  the  marshal  gravely  replied.  "You  will 
follow  your  king  to  the  tomb,  and  he  has  not  long 
to  live;  he  is  worn  out  by  dissipation.  Cosmo  Rug- 
gieri  has  predicted  that  he  will  die  next  year." 

"  The  dying  boar  often  kills  the  hunter,"  said 


392  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Charles  de  Condi.  "  This  conspiracy  of  the  Due 
d'Alengon,  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  in  which  La  Mole  and  Coconnas  are  in- 
volved, is  more  dangerous  than  profitable.  In  the 
first  place,  the  King  of  Navarre,  whom  the  queen- 
mother  hoped  to  take  red-handed,  has  become 
suspicious  of  her  and  is  taking  no  part  in  it.  He 
proposes  to  profit  by  the  conspiracy,  without  run- 
ning any  of  the  risks  involved  in  it.  In  the  second 
place,  to-day  they  all  have  the  idea  of  placing  the 
crown  on  the  head  of  the  Due  d'Alengon,  who  is 
turning  Calvinist." 

"  Budelonel  don't  you  see  that  this  conspiracy 
enables  our  queen  to  ascertain  what  the  Huguenots 
are  able  to  do  with  the  Due  d'Alenfon,  and  what  the 
king  means  to  do  with  the  Huguenots?  for  the  king  is 
negotiating  with  them;  but,  to  make  the  king  ride  a 
wooden  horse,  to-morrow  the  queen  will  tell  him  all 
about  this  conspiracy,  which  will  neutralize  all  his 
plans." 

"Ah!"  said  Charles  de  Condi,  "by  dint  of  fol- 
lowing our  advice,  she  has  become  stronger  than 
we.     That  is  excellent." 

**  Excellent  for  the  Due  d'Anjou,  who  would  rather 
be  King  of  France  than  King  of  Poland,  and  to  whom 
I  am  going  to  make  the  whole  matter  clear." 

"  Are  you  leaving  Paris,  Albert?" 

•'  To-morrow.  Was  not  I  assigned  to  the  duty  of 
attending  the  King  of  Poland?  1  shall  overtake  him 
at  Venice,  where  their  Highnesses  have  undertaken 
to  entertain  him." 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  393 

**  You  are  prudence  itself." 

**  Che  hestia !  I  swear  to  you  that  we  do  not  incur 
the  slightest  danger  by  remaining  at  court.  If  there 
were  any  danger,  should  I  go  away?  I  should  remain 
with  our  dear  mistress." 

**Dear!"  echoed  the  grand  master;  "she  is  just 
the  woman  to  drop  her  instruments  on  the  spot  when 
she  finds  them  heavy." 

"  O  coglione!  you  want  to  be  a  soldier,  and  yet 
you  are  afraid  of  death,  eh?  Every  profession  has 
its  duties,  and  we  have  our  duties  to  fortune.  When 
we  attach  ourselves  to  kings,  the  source  of  all  tem- 
poral power,  who  protect  and  exalt  and  enrich  our 
families,  we  must  vow  to  them  the  same  love  that 
fills  the  martyr's  heart  for  Heaven;  we  must  be  pre- 
pared to  suffer  in  their  cause;  when  they  sacrifice 
us  to  their  throne,  we  can  afford  to  die,  for  we  die 
as  much  for  ourselves  as  for  them,  and  our  families 
survive.     Eccol" 

"You  are  right,  Albert;  she  has  given  you  the 
venerable  duchy  of  Retz." 

"Listen,"  rejoined  the  marshal.  "The  queen 
relies  confidently  on  the  skill  of  the  Ruggieri  to 
reconcile  her  with  her  son.  When  our  rascal  re- 
fused to  make  any  further  use  of  Rene,  the  crafty 
creature  readily  divined  what  her  son  suspected. 
But  who  knows  what  the  king  carries  in  his  bag? 
Perhaps  he  is  hesitating  only  concerning  his  course 
of  conduct  toward  his  mother,  for  he  hates  her,  do 
you  understand?  He  told  the  queen  something  of 
his  plans,  the  queen  talked  them  over  with  Madame 


394  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

de  Fiesco,  Madame  de  Fiesco  reported  everything  to 
the  queen-mother,  and  since  then  the  tcing  conceals 
everything  from  his  wife." 

"  It  was  time,"  said  Charles  de  Gondi. 

"Time  for  what?" 

"To  find  something  for  the  king  to  do,"  replied 
the  grand  master,  who,  although  he  was  not  so  fully 
in  Catherine's  confidence  as  his  brother,  was  no  less 
clear-sighted. 

"Charles,  I  have  helped  you  to  a  great  career," 
said  the  marshal,  gravely;  "but  if  you  wish  to  be 
a  duke  also,  be,  as  I  am,  our  mistress's  dme  damme; 
she  will  remain  queen,  for  she  is  stronger  than  all 
the  rest  of  them.  Madame  de  Sauves  is  with  her, 
and  the  Due  d'Alengon  and  the  King  of  Navarre  are 
always  with  Madame  de  Sauves;  Catherine  will  con- 
tinue to  hold  them  all  in  leash  under  this  king,  yes, 
and  under  King  Henri  III.  God  grant  that  he  be  not 
ungrateful  !** 

"Why?" 

"  His  mother  does  too  much  for  him." 

"  Oho!  But  I  hear  a  noise  in  Rue  Saint-Honore," 
exclaimed  the  grand  master;  "  Rene's  door  just 
closed.  Don't  you  hear  the  footsteps  of  several 
men?     The  Ruggieri  are  arrested." 

"Ah!  diavolo!  there's  prudence  for  you!  The 
king  has  not  been  as  impetuous  as  usual.  But 
where  will  he  put  them  in  prison?  Let  us  go  and 
see  what  happens." 

The  two  brothers  reached  the  corner  of  Rue  de 
I'Autruche  as  the  king  entered  his  mistress's  house. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  395 

By  the  light  of  the  torch  held  by  the  concierge,  they 
could  distinguish  Tavannes  and  the  Ruggieri. 

"Well,  well,  Tavannes,"  cried  the  grand  master, 
running  after  the  king's  companion,  who  was  return- 
ing to  the  Louvre,  "  what  has  happened  to  you?" 

"  We  alighted  in  a  full  consistory  of  sorcerers;  we 
arrested  two  of  them  who  are  friends  of  yours,  and 
who  will  be  able  to  explain,  for  the  benefit  of  French 
noblemen,  by  what  means  you  succeeded  in  getting 
two  offices  under  the  crown  into  your  hands,  being 
a  foreigner,"  remarked  Tavannes,  half-jesting,  half- 
serious. 

"And  the  king?"  queried  the  grand  master,  like 
a  man  who  cared  but  little  for  Tavannes's  enmity. 

"  He  remains  with  his  mistress." 

"  My  brother  and  1  have  prospered  by  virtue  of 
the  most  absolute  devotion  to  our  masters,  a  noble 
and  honorable  course  which  you,  too,  have  adopted, 
my  dear  duke,"  retorted  the  Marechal  de  Retz. 

The  three  courtiers  walked  along  together  in  si- 
lence. Just  as  they  parted,  each  of  them  being 
joined  by  his  retainers  to  escort  him  home,  two  men 
glided  swiftly  along  the  walls  that  bordered  Rue  de 
I'Autruche.  Those  two  men  were  the  king  and  the 
Count  of  Solern,  who  soon  reached  the  bank  of 
the  Seine  at  a  point  where  a  boat  and  rowers, 
selected  by  the  German  nobleman,  awaited  them. 
In  a  few  seconds  they  were  on  the  opposite  shore. 

"  My  mother  has  not  gone  to  bed  !"  exclaimed  the 
king;  "  she  will  see  us;  we  made  a  bad  choice  for 
a  rendezvous." 


396  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  She  will  think  it  is  a  duel,"  replied  Solern; 
"and  how  could  she  distinguish  us  at  this  dis- 
tance?" 

*'  Oh!  well,  let  her  see  me,"  cried  Charles,  "my 
mind  is  made  up  now!" 

The  king  and  his  confidant  leaped  ashore  and 
walked  rapidly  in  the  direction  of  the  Pre-aux- 
Clercs.  On  arriving  there,  Solern,  who  was  in 
advance  of  the  king,  met  a  man  acting  as  sentinel, 
with  whom  he  exchanged  a  few  words  and  who  then 
withdrew  to  join  his  companions.  A  moment  later, 
two  men,  who  seemed  to  be  of  princely  rank,  judg- 
ing from  the  respectful  manner  of  their  picket,  left 
the  place  where  they  were  hiding  behind  a  dilapi- 
dated fence  and  approached  the  king,  before  whom 
they  bent  the  knee;  but  Charles  raised  them  before 
their  knees  reached  the  ground,  and  said: 

"  No  ceremony,  we  are  all  gentlemen  here." 

The  three  gentlemen  were  soon  joined  by  a  ven- 
erable old  man,  who  might  have  been  taken  for  the 
Chancellor  de  I'Hopital,  had  he  not  died  in  the  pre- 
ceding year.  All  four  walked  rapidly,  in  order  to 
reach  a  place  where  their  conference  could  not  be 
heard  by  their  attendants,  and  Solern  followed  at  a 
short  distance'^to  watch  over  the  king.  That  faithful 
retainer  yielded  to  a  suspicion  which  Charles,  like  a 
man  whose  life  has  become  too  heavy  a  burden,  did 
not  share.  Solern  was  the  only  witness,  on  the 
king's  side,  of  the  conference,  which  soon  became 
animated. 

"Sire,"  said  one  of  the  three,  "the  Connetable 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  397 

de  Montmorency,  who  was  the  king  your  father's 
best  friend  and  who  knew  all  his  secrets,  agreed 
with  the  Marechal  de  Saint-Andre  that  Madame 
Catherine  must  be  sewn  in  a  bag  and  thrown  into 
the  river.  Had  that  been  done,  many  excellent  men 
would  still  be  on  their  feet." 

"  I  have  enough  executions  on  my  conscience, 
monsieur,"  replied  the  king. 

"  Very  well,  sire,"  said  the  youngest  of  the  four, 
"from  any  place  of  exile.  Queen  Catherine  will 
find  a  way  to  throw  everything  into  confusion  and 
to  find  auxiliaries.  Have  we  not  everything  to  fear 
from  the  Guises,  who,  nine  years  ago,  formed  the 
plan  of  a  monstrous  Catholic  alliance  to  the  secret 
of  which  Your  Majesty  was  not  admitted,  and  which 
menaces  your  throne.?  That  alliance  is  an  invention 
of  Spain,  which  has  not  abandoned  its  project  of 
levelling  the  Pyrenees.  Sire,  Calvinism  would  save 
France  by  placing  a  moral  barrier  between  it  and  a 
nation  which  dreams  of  world-empire.  If  the  queen- 
mother  be  proscribed,  she  will  look  to  Spain  and  the 
Guises  for  support." 

"Messieurs,"  said  the  king;  "understand  that 
with  your  aid,  peace  being  re-established  without 
distrust,  I  will  agree  to  make  every  individual  in  the 
kingdom  tremble.  Tete-Dieu!  Ft  is  high  time  for 
the  royal  power  to  assert  itself.  Be  assured  that  my 
mother  is  right  in  this,  you  are  as  deeply  interested 
as  I  am.  Your  property,  your  privileges  are  indis- 
solubly  connected  with  our  throne;  when  you  have 
allowed  the  religion  to   be   crushed,  the  hands  of 


398  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

which  you  make  use  will  be  raised  against  the 
throne  and  against  you.  1  am  no  longer  anxious  to 
fight  against  ideas  with  weapons  which  do  not  reach 
them.  Let  us  see  if  Protestantism  will  make  prog- 
ress if  left  to  itself;  but,  above  all,  let  us  see  what 
that  factious  spirit  will  attack.  The  admiral,  God 
rest  his  soul !  was  not  my  enemy,  he  swore  that 
he  would  keep  the  revolt  within  the  limits  of  the 
spiritual  world,  and  would  leave  in  the  temporal 
kingdom  a  royal  master  and  submissive  subjects. 
Messieurs,  if  it  be  still  in  your  power  to  do  so,  set 
the  example,  assist  your  sovereign  to  quell  mutinous 
subjects  who  deprive  us  all  of  tranquillity.  The 
war  diminishes  the  revenues  of  all  of  us  and  ruins 
the  realm.  I  am  weary  of  this  constant  warfare, 
so  weary  that,  if  it  be  absolutely  necessary,  I  will 
sacrifice  my  mother.  I  will  go  further,  I  will  have 
both  Protestants  and  Catholics  in  attendance  on  me 
in  equal  numbers,  and  I  will  place  the  axe  of  Louis  XL 
over  them,  to  make  them  equal.  If  Messieurs  de 
Guise  are  planning  a  Holy  Alliance  which  attacks 
our  crown,  the  executioner  shall  begin  his  task  with 
them.  I  understand  the  miseries  of  my  people,  and 
I  am  disposed  to  cut  freely  into  the  ranks  of  the 
great  men  who  bring  disaster  on  our  kingdom.  I 
care  little  about  consciences,  I  propose  henceforth  to 
have  submissive  subjects,  who  will  work  under  my 
guidance,  for  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  Messieurs, 
I  give  you  ten  days  to  negotiate  with  your  people, 
break  up  your  plots,  and  return  to  me,  who  will  be- 
come your  father.     If  you  refuse,  you  will  see  great 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  399 

changes,  for  I  shall  act  with  people  of  low  degree 
who  will  descend  upon  the  nobles  at  my  bidding.  I 
will  take  for  my  model  some  king  who  has  succeeded 
in  pacifying  his  kingdom  by  crushing  stronger  men 
than  you  who  dared  to  defy  him.  If  the  Catholic 
troops  fail  me,  I  have  my  brother  of  Spain,  whom  I 
will  summon  to  the  succor  of  a  menaced  throne;  and 
if  I  lack  a  minister  to  execute  my  will,  he  will  lend 
me  the  Duke  of  Alva." 

"  In  that  case,  sire,  we  should  have  the  Germans 
to  match  your  Spaniards,"  said  one  of  his  interloc- 
utors. 

"  Cousin,"  said  Charles  IX.,  coldly,  "  my  wife  is 
called  Elisabeth  of  Austria,  and  you  might  fail  to 
procure  assistance  in  that  direction;  but  take  my 
advice,  let  us  fight  alone,  and  not  call  in  the  for- 
eigner. You  are  the  object  of  my  mother's  hatred, 
and  you  are  sufficiently  attached  to  me  to  be  my 
second  in  the  duel  I  am  about  to  fight  with  her:  very 
good,  listen  to  this.  You  seem  to  me  so  worthy  of 
esteem,  that  I  offer  you  the  office  of  constable;  you 
will  not  betray  us  as  the  other  did." 

The  prince  to  whom  Charles  spoke,  took  his  hand 
and  struck  his  own  upon  it. 

"  yentre-saint-gris ! "  he  said,  "this  is  enough, 
brother,  to  make  one  forget  many  injuries.  But, 
sire,  the  head  cannot  go  forward  without  the  tail, 
and  our  tail  is  difficult  to  move.  Give  us  more  than 
ten  days;  we  need  at  least  a  month  to  make  our 
people  listen  to  reason.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  we 
shall  be  masters." 


400  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  A  month,  so  be  it.  My  only  representative  will 
be  Villeroy;  you  will  trust  him  alone,  whatever 
others  may  say  to  you." 

"  One  month,"  said  the  three  noblemen,  with  one 
voice;  "that  will  be  long  enough." 

'•  There  are  five  of  us,  messieurs,"  said  the  king, 
"five  men  of  honor.  If  there  be  treachery,  we 
shall  know  whom  to  blame." 

The  three  strangers  kissed  the  king's  hand  and 
left  him,  with  marks  of  the  greatest  respect. 

When  he  recrossed  the  Seine,  the  clock  on  the 
Louvre  was  striking  four. 

Queen  Catherine  had  not  retired. 

"  My  mother  is  still  awake,"  said  Charles  to  the 
Count  of  Solern. 

"  She  has  her  forge  as  well  as  you,"  replied  the 
German. 

"My  dear  count,  what  do  you  think  of  a  king 
who  is  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  conspiring?"  said 
Charles,  bitterly,  after  a  pause. 

"  I  think,  sire,  that  if  you  would  allow  me  to 
throw  yonder  woman  into  the  water,  as  the  young 
prince  suggested,  France  would  soon  be  at  peace." 

"  Parricide,  after  the  Saint  Bartholomew,  count? 
No,  no!  exile.  When  she  has  once  fallen,  my 
mother  will  not  have  a  single  retainer,  not  an  ad- 
herent." 

"  Very  well,  sire,"  rejoined  Solern,  "  order  me  to 
go  and  arrest  her  at  once  and  escort  her  out  of  the 
kingdom;  for  she  will  have  changed  your  mind  to- 
morrow." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  401 

"Well,  come  to  my  forge,"  said  the  king;  "  no 
one  will  overhear  us  there;  besides,  I  do  not  wish 
my  mother  to  suspect  the  capture  of  the  Ruggieri. 
Knowing  that  I  am  here,  the  good  woman  will  sus- 
pect nothing,  and  we  can  decide  upon  the  necessary 
measures  for  her  arrest." 

When  the  king,  followed  by  Solern,  entered  the 
lower  room  which  he  used  as  a  workshop,  he  pointed 
to  the  forge  and  all  its  appurtenances  with  a  smile: 

"  I  do  not  believe,"  he  said,  "that  among  all  the 
kings  France  will  have  hereafter,  there  will  be 
another  who  will  take  pleasure  in  such  work.  But 
when  I  am  really  king,  I  will  not  forge  swords,  but 
will  cause  them  all  to  be  replaced  in  their  scab- 
bards." 

"  Sire,"  said  Solern,  "  the  fatigue  of  the  tennis- 
court,  your  work  at  this  forge,  hunting,  and,  if  I 
may  venture  to  say  it,  love,  are  cabriolets  which  the 
devil  gives  you  to  carry  you  more  rapidly  to  Saint- 
Denis." 

"Solern!"  said  the  king,  sorrowfully,  "if  you 
knew  what  a  fire  has  been  kindled  in  my  heart  and 
my  body!  nothing  can  extinguish  it.  Are  you  sure 
of  the  men  who  have  the  custody  of  the  Ruggieri.?" 

"As  of  myself." 

"Very  well;  during  the  day  that  is  beginning,  I 
shall  determine  upon  my  course  of  action.  Reflect 
upon  the  means  of  carrying  it  out,  I  will  give  you 
my  final  orders  at  five  o'clock,  at  Madame  de  Belle- 
ville's." 


26 


As  the  first  rays  of  dawn  were  contending  for 
mastery  with  the  light  in  the  workshop,  the  king, 
whom  Solern  had  left  alone,  heard  his  door  open 
and  saw  his  mother,  outlined  in  the  half-light  like  a 
ghost.  Although  very  nervous  and  impressionable, 
Charles  was  not  startled,  albeit,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, the  apparition  acquired  a  sombre  and 
mysterious  significance. 

"Monsieur,"  she  said,  "you  are  killing  your- 
self—" 

"I  am  proving  the  accuracy  of  horoscopes,"  he 
retorted,  with  a  bitter  smile.  "  But  are  not  you 
yourself,  madame,  as  early  a  riser  as  I?" 

"We  have  both  been  up  all  night,  monsieur,  but 
for  very  different  reasons.  When  you  went  to  confer 
with  your  bitterest  enemies  in  the  open  country,  con- 
cealing your  movements  from  your  mother,  abetted 
by  Tavannes  and  the  Gondis,  with  whom  you  pre- 
tended to  be  going  out  to  scour  the  streets,  I  read 
despatches  which  contained  the  proofs  of  a  danger- 
ous conspiracy  in  which  your  brother  the  Due  d'Al- 
engon,  your  brother-in-law  the  King  of  Navarre,  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  and  half  of  the  grandees  in  the  king- 
dom are  involved.  They  aim  at  nothing  less  than 
robbing  you  of  the  crown  by  taking  forcible  posses- 
sion of  your  person.  These  gentry  already  have 
fifty  thousand  excellent  troops  under  their  orders." 
(403) 


404  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Indeed!"  said  the  king,  with  an  incredulous 
air. 

"Your  brother  is  turning  Huguenot,"  added  the 
queen. 

"My  brother  is  going  over  to  the  Huguenots?" 
cried  Charles,  brandishing  the  sword  he  held  in  his 
hand. 

"Yes,  the  Due  d'Alenfon,  a  Huguenot  at  heart, 
will  soon  be  one  in  fact.  Your  sister,  the  Queen  of 
Navarre,  has  but  little  affection  left  for  you;  she 
loves  Monsieur  le  Due  d'Alengon,  she  loves  Bussy, 
she  also  loves  little  La  Mole." 

"  What  a  heart!"  exclaimed  the  king. 

"  Little  La  Mole,"  continued  the  queen,  "  can 
think  of  no  better  way  to  become  great  than  by  pre- 
senting France  with  a  king  of  his  making.  He  will 
be  constable,  it  is  said." 

"Wretched  Margot!"  cried  the  king;  "this  is 
what  comes  of  her  marriage  to  a  heretic." 

"That  would  amount  to  nothing,  save  with  the 
head  of  the  younger  branch  of  your  family,  whom 
you  have  placed  near  the  throne  despite  my  advice, 
and  who  would  like  to  see  you  killing  one  another! 
The  House  of  Bourbon  is  the  enemy  of  the  House  of 
Valois;  understand  this,  monsieur:  a  younger  branch 
should  always  be  kept  in  absolute  poverty,  for  it  is 
a  conspirator  by  birth,  and  it  is  mere  folly  to  give  it 
arms  when  it  has  none,  or  to  allow  it  to  keep  them 
when  it  seizes  them.  Let  every  scion  of  a  younger 
branch  be  incapable  of  doing  any  injury,  that  is  the 
law  of  thrones.     The  sovereigns  of  Asia  follow  that 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  405 

rule. — The  proofs  I  speak  of  are  up  yonder  in  my 
closet,  where  I  begged  you  to  go  with  me  when  I  left 
you  last  evening,  but  you  had  other  plans.  A  month 
hence,  if  we  do  not  look  to  ourselves,  you  will  have 
shared  the  fate  of  Charles  the  Simple." 

"  A  month  hence!"  cried  Charles  IX.,  thunder- 
struck by  the  coincidence  of  that  date  with  the 
delay  demanded  by  the  princes  that  very  night. 
"Within  the  month  we  shall  be  masters!"  he  said 
to  himself,  repeating  their  words.  "You  say  that 
you  have  proofs,  madame?"  he  added  aloud. 

"  They  are  irrefutable,  monsieur,  they  come  from 
my  daughter  Marguerite.  She  is  alarmed  herself  by 
the  probabilities  of  such  a  combination,  and  despite 
her  affection  for  your  brother  D'Alenfon,  the  throne 
of  the  Valois  has,  this  time,  appealed  to  her  heart 
more  strongly  than  all  her  amours.  She  demands  as 
the  price  of  her  revelations  that  nothing  be  done  to 
La  Mole;  but  that  fellow  seems  to  me  a  dangerous 
knave  whom  we  should  put  out  of  the  way,  as  well 
as  the  Comte  de  Coconnas,  your  brother  D'Alenjon's 
man.  As  for  the  Prince  de  Conde,  that  child  agrees 
to  everything,  provided  that  I  am  thrown  into  the 
river;  I  don't  know  whether  he  means  that  as  a  sort 
of  wedding-present  for  giving  him  his  pretty  wife. 
This  is  a  serious  matter,  monsieur.  You  talk  about 
predictions! — I  know  of  one  which  gives  the  throne 
of  the  Valois  to  the  House  of  Bourbon,  and,  if  we 
do  not  beware,  it  will  be  fulfilled.  Do  not  be  angry 
with  your  sister,  she  has  behaved  well  in  this. — My 
son,"  she  continued,  after  a  pause,  giving  a  tender 


406  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

intonation  to  her  voice,  "  many  evil-minded  people 
in  the  service  of  Messieurs  de  Guise  seek  to  sow 
discord  between  you  and  me,  although  we  are  the 
only  persons  in  this  kingdom  whose  interests  are 
precisely  identical:  remember  that.  You  reproach 
yourself  now  for  the  Saint  Bartholomew,  I  know; 
you  accuse  me  of  having  forced  it  upon  you. 
Catholicism,  monsieur,  is  the  natural  bond  between 
Spain,  France,  and  Italy,  three  countries  which 
may,  by  secretly  and  skilfully  following  a  shrewdly- 
devised  plan,  be  united  under  the  House  of  Valois, 
with  the  assistance  of  time.  Do  not  destroy  the 
chances  of  such  a  result  by  cutting  the  cord  which 
holds  those  three  kingdoms  together  in  the  circle  of 
one  faith.  Why  should  not  the  Valois  and  the 
Medici  carry  out  for  their  own  glory  the  plan  of 
Charles  V.,  who  lacked  the  necessary  brains?  Let 
us  relegate  the  race  of  Joanna  the  Mad  to  the  new 
world,  where  it  has  gained  a  foothold.  The  Medici, 
masters  at  Florence  and  Rome,  will  subdue  Italy 
for  you;  they  will  ensure  you  all  its  advantages 
by  a  commercial  treaty  and  a  treaty  of  alliance, 
acknowledging  that  they  hold  Piedmont,  the  Milan- 
ais,  and  Naples,  to  which  you  have  just  claims,  as 
fiefs  of  the  French  crown.  These,  monsieur,  are 
the  reasons  for  the  war  to  the  death  which  we  are 
waging  on  the  Huguenots.  Why  do  you  compel  us 
to  tell  you  these  things  again  and  again?  Charle- 
magne made  a  mistake  in  extending  his  power  to- 
ward the  north.  Yes,  France  is  a  body  whose  heart 
lies  on  the  Gulf  of  Lyon,  and  whose  two  arms  are 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  407 

Spain  and  Italy.  In  that  way,  she  rules  the  Med- 
iterranean, which  is,  as  it  were,  a  basket  into  which 
fall  the  treasures  of  the  Orient,  upon  which  those 
Venetian  gentry  are  fattening  to-day  in  the  teeth  of 
Philip  II.  If  the  friendship  of  the  Medici  and  your 
own  rights  justify  you  in  hoping  for  Italy,  force 
or  alliances,  perhaps  an  inheritance,  will  give  you 
Spain.  As  to  this  last  matter,  give  warning  to  the 
ambitious  House  of  Austria,  to  which  the  Guelphs 
sold  Italy,  and  which  still  dreams  of  possessing 
Spain.  Although  your  wife  is  of  that  House,  hum- 
ble Austria,  squeeze  it  tight  in  order  to  suffocate 
it;  there  are  the  enemies  of  your  kingdom,  for 
thence  aid  is  furnished  the  reformers.  Do  not 
listen  to  the  people  who  find  their  profit  in  our 
lack  of  harmony,  and  who  are  constantly  belabor- 
ing your  brain  with  the  idea  that  I  am  an  enemy 
in  your  own  household.  Have  I  prevented  your 
having  heirs?  Why  does  your  mistress  bear  you  a 
son  and  the  queen  a  daughter.?  Why  have  you 
not  to-day  three  heirs  who  would  cut  at  the  root 
the  hopes  upon  which  all  these  seditious  schemes 
are  based.?  Is  it  for  me,  monsieur,  to  answer  these 
questions?  If  you  had  a  son,  would  Monsieur 
d'Alenfon  be  conspiring?" 

As  she  concluded,  Catherine  fastened  upon  her 
son  the  fascinating  gaze  which  the  bird  of  prey 
fastens  upon  its  victim.  At  that  moment,  the 
daughter  of  the  Medici  was  beautiful  in  her  pecul- 
iar style  of  beauty;  her  real  sentiments  shone 
upon   her  face,  which,  like    that  of   the    gambler 


408  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

seated  at  the  green  cloth,  gleamed  with  innumer- 
able greedy  thoughts.  Charles  IX.  no  longer  saw 
before  him  the  mother  of  a  single  man,  but,  as  was 
said  of  her,  the  mother  of  armies  and  of  empires — 
mater  castrorum.  She  had  unfolded  the  wings  of 
her  genius  and  was  soaring  boldly  in  the  lofty  re- 
gions of  the  policy  of  the  Medici  and  Valois,  out- 
lining the  gigantic  plans  which  formerly  terrified 
Henri  II.,  and  which,  transmitted  by  the  genius  of 
the  Medici  to  Richelieu,  are  inscribed  forever  in  the 
archives  of  the  House  of  Bourbon.  But  Charles  IX., 
seeing  that  his  mother  took  so  many  precautions, 
said  to  himself  that  they  must  be  necessary,  and 
wondered  to  what  end  she  took  them.  He  lowered 
his  eyes,  he  hesitated,  his  distrust  could  not  yield  to 
mere  words.  Catherine  was  astonished  to  find  how 
deeply  suspicion  had  taken  root  in  her  son's  heart. 

"Well,  monsieur,"  she  said,  "will  you  never 
understand  me.?  What  are  you  and  I  compared 
with  the  eternity  of  kingly  crowns.?  Do  you  sup- 
pose that  I  have  other  designs  than  those  which 
should  occupy  our  thoughts  while  we  dwell  on  this 
sphere  and  hold  sway  over  empires.?" 

"Madame,  I  will  go  with  you  to  your  closet,  we 
must  act — " 

"Act!"  cried  Catherine,  "let  us  allow  them  to 
go  on  and  take  them  in  the  act;  the  law  will  deliver 
you  from  them.  For  God's  sake,  monsieur,  let  us 
seem  to  be  well-disposed  toward  them." 

The  queen  withdrew.  The  king  remained  alone 
for  a  moment,  utterly  overwhelmed. 


AT  MME.  DE  BELLEVILLE'S 


Marie,  surprised  by  his  silence,  knelt  in  order  to 
examine  more  carefully  her  royal  master's  pale  face, 
and  detected  then  the  indications  of  terrible  zveariness 
and  of  a  melancholy  m^ore  consuming  than  all  the 
melancholies  she  had  previously  charmed  away. 


^<yiy<<^Xi     Ign    Oy  -^  '^AtMt^.  Jt  /i. 


CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI  409 

*'In  which  direction  is  the  ambush?"  he  cried. 
"Is  she  deceiving  me,  or  are  they?  Which  is  the 
better  policy?  Deus!  discerne  meam  causam,"  he 
continued,  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  "  Life  is  a  bur- 
den to  me.  I  prefer  death,  natural  or  violent,  to 
this  constant  tugging  in  opposite  directions,"  he 
added,  bringing  the  hammer  down  upon  the  anvil 
with  such  force  that  the  walls  of  the  Louvre  trem- 
bled.— "  Mon  Dieu!"  he  continued,  looking  up  at 
the  sky  as  he  left  the  palace,  "do  Thou,  for  whose 
holy  religion  I  fight,  endow  me  with  the  keenness  of 
Thy  glance  that  I  may  penetrate  my  mother's  heart 
by  questioning  the  Ruggieri." 

The  little  house  in  which  Madame  de  Belleville 
lived,  and  in  which  Charles  IX.  had  bestowed  his 
prisoners,  was  the  last  but  one  on  Rue  de  I'Autruche 
toward  Rue  Saint-Honore.  The  street-gate,  flanked 
by  two  small  brick  pavilions,  seemed  very  simple 
in  design  at  a  time  when  gateways  and  their  sur- 
roundings were  so  elaborately  ornamented.  It  con- 
sisted of  two  stone  pilasters,  cut  as  diamonds  are 
cut,  and  the  arch  represented  a  recumbent  woman 
holding  a  cornucopia.  The  door,  which  was  heavily 
bound  with  iron,  had  a  wicket  at  the  level  of  the 
eye  through  which  to  scrutinize  persons  who  sought 
admission.  There  was  a  concierge  in  each  pavilion. 
The  extremely  capricious  pleasure  of  King  Charles 
required  the  services  of  a  concierge  night  and  day. 
There  was  a  small  courtyard  paved  in  the  Venetian 
style.  At  that  period,  when  carriages  had  not  been 
invented,  ladies  went  about  on  horseback  or  in  litters, 


4IO  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

and  a  courtyard  might  be  magnificent  with  no  danger 
of  injury  from  horses  or  carriages.  We  must  con- 
stantly bear  this  fact  in  mind,  in  order  to  understand 
the  narrowness  of  the  streets,  the  diminutive  size 
of  the  courtyards,  and  certain  details  of  fifteenth- 
century  dwellings. 

The  house,  which  had  one  floor  above  the  ground- 
floor,  was  crowned  by  a  carved  frieze  which  sup- 
ported a  roof  with  four  sides,  with  a  flat  space  at  the 
apex.  The  roof  was  pierced  with  dormer-windows, 
with  pediments  and  frames  which  the  chisel  of  some 
great  artist  had  covered  with  dentils  and  arabesques. 
Each  of  the  three  windows  on  the  first  floor  also  was 
noticeable  by  reason  of  its  embroidery  of  stonework 
which  the  brick  walls  threw  into  bold  relief.  On 
the  ground-floor,  a  double  stoop,  very  delicately 
decorated,  with  a  true  lover's  knot  in  stone  on  the 
landing,  led  to  the  main  entrance,  surrounded  by 
bosses  carved  in  the  Venetian  style  with  diamond- 
like facets, — a  system  of  decoration  which  was  re- 
peated in  the  windows  at  the  right  and  left. 

A  garden  laid  out  and  planted  in  the  fashion  then 
in  vogue,  and  abounding  in  rare  flowers,  occupied 
a  space  behind  the  house  equal  in  extent  to  the 
courtyard.  The  walls  were  covered  with  vines.  A 
silvery  pine  stood  in  the  centre  of  a  small  lawn. 
This  lawn  was  separated  from  the  flower-beds  by 
winding  paths  leading  to  a  small  clump  of  trimmed 
yews  at  the  farther  end.  Upon  the  walls  were 
laid  mosaics  of  multicolored  pebbles,  arranged  in 
patterns  that  were   commonplace,   it   is  true,  but 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  411 

pleasing  to  the  eye,  none  the  less,  because  of  the 
wealth  of  bright  coloring,  blending  with  that  of  the 
flowers.  The  facade  on  the  garden  resembled  that 
on  the  courtyard;  it  had  a  dainty  carved  balcony 
over  the  door  in  front  of  the  window  in  the  centre. 
On  the  garden,  and  on  the  courtyard  as  well,  the 
decorations  of  this  central  window  projected  several 
feet  and  were  carried  up  to  the  frieze,  so  that  it  re- 
sembled a  small  pavilion,  like  a  lantern.  The  frames 
of  the  other  windows  were  incrusted  with  valuable 
marbles  surrounded  by  stone. 

Despite  the  exquisite  taste  which  characterized 
the  whole  house,  it  had  a  melancholy  aspect.  The 
rooms  were  darkened  by  the  neighboring  houses  and 
by  the  roofs  of  the  Hotel  d'Alenfon,  which  cast  a 
shadow  on  the  courtyard  and  garden;  moreover,  pro- 
found silence  reigned  there.  But  that  silence,  that 
shadow,  that  solitude,  were  full  of  comfort  for  a  soul 
that  could  give  itself  over  to  a  single  thought,  as  in 
a  cloister  where  one  meditates,  or  in  the  quiet  house 
where  one  loves. 

Who  could  fail  now  to  divine  the  interior  refine- 
ment of  that  retreat,  the  only  spot  in  his  whole 
realm  where  the  last  but  one  of  the  Valois  could 
pour  out  his  heart,  tell  of  his  sorrows,  display  his 
taste  for  the  arts,  and  abandon  himself  to  the  poetic 
life  which  he  loved — inclinations  thwarted,  one  and 
all,  by  the  cares  of  the  most  burdensome  of  royalties. 
There  only,  his  greatness  of  soul  and  his  exalted 
merit  were  appreciated ;  there  alone  did  he  abandon 
himself,  during  a  few  fleeting  months,  the  last  months 


412  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

of  his  life,  to  the  joys  of  paternity,  joys  into  which 
he  plunged  with  the  frenzy  which  the  presentiment  of 
a  horrible  death  near  at  hand  imparted  to  all  his  acts. 

The  next  afternoon,  Marie  was  putting  the  finish- 
ing touches  to  her  toilet  in  her  oratory,  which  was 
the  boudoir  of  those  days.  She  was  adjusting  the 
curls  of  her  lovely  black  hair  to  adapt  them  to  a  new 
velvet  cap,  and  scrutinizing  herself  carefully  in  the 
mirror. 

**  It  is  nearly  four  o'clock,  that  interminable  coun- 
cil is  at  an  end,"  she  said  to  herself.  "Jacob  has 
returned  from  the  Louvre,  where  there  is  great  ex- 
citement because  of  the  number  of  councillors  sum- 
moned and  the  length  of  the  session.  What  can 
possibly  have  happened?  some  disaster.  Mon  Dieu! 
does  he  know  how  the  heart  is  worn  away  by  wait- 
ing in  vain!  Perhaps  he  has  gone  hunting?  If  he 
has  enjoyed  himself,  all  will  be  for  the  best.  If  I 
see  that  he  is  in  good  spirits,  1  will  forget  that  I  have 
suffered." 

She  ran  her  hands  up  and  down  her  dress  to 
smooth  a  slight  wrinkle,  then  turned  sidewise  to  see 
how  her  dress  fitted  her;  but  as  she  turned,  she 
saw  the  king  on  the  couch.  The  carpet  deadened 
his  footsteps  so  completely  that  he  had  been  able  to 
steal  in  unheard. 

"You  startled  me,"  she  said,  with  a  little  shriek 
of  surprise,  quickly  checked. 

"Were  you  thinking  of  me?"  said  the  king. 

"  When  do  I  not  think  of  you?"  she  asked,  sitting 
down  by  his  side. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  413 

She  removed  his  cap  and  cloak,  and  ran  her  hands 
through  his  hair,  as  if  she  would  comb  it  with  her 
fingers.  Charles  allowed  her  to  do  it  and  made  no 
reply.  Marie,  surprised  by  his  silence,  knelt  in 
order  to  examine  more  carefully  her  royal  master's 
pale  face,  and  detected  then  the  indications  of  terri- 
ble weariness  and  of  a  melancholy  more  consuming 
than  all  the  melancholies  she  had  previously  charmed 
away.  She  forced  back  a  tear  and  refrained  from 
speaking,  in  order  not  to  intensify  by  imprudent 
words  a  suffering  of  which  she  did  not  as  yet  know 
the  nature.  She  did  what  loving  women  do  on 
such  occasions:  she  kissed  that  brow  furrowed  by 
premature  wrinkles,  and  those  haggard  cheeks,  try- 
ing to  impress  the  freshness  of  her  own  heart  upon 
that  careworn  heart,  pouring  forth  her  spirit  in 
gentle  caresses  which  met  with  no  success.  She 
raised  her  head  to  the  level  of  the  king's,  embraced 
him  gently  in  her  slender  arms,  then  hid  her  face 
against  that  suffering  breast,  watching  for  the  oppor- 
tune moment  to  question  the  dejected  invalid. 

*•  Chariot,  dear,  will  you  not  tell  your  poor,  anxious 
sweetheart  the  thoughts  which  cloud  your  dear  brow 
and  drive  the  color  from  your  sweet  red  lips.?" 

"  With  the  exception  of  Charlemagne,"  he  said  in 
a  low,  hollow  voice,  "  every  king  of  France  named 
Charles  has  come  to  a  miserable  end." 

"  Nonsense!"  said  she, "  how  about  Charles  VIII.  ?" 

"  In  the  prime  of  life,"  replied  the  king,  "  that  un- 
fortunate prince  struck  his  head  against  the  frame 
of  a  door  at  the  chateau  of  Amboise,  which  he  was 


414  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

decorating,  and  he  died  in  horrible  agony.  His 
death  gave  the  crown  to  our  family." 

"Charles  VII.  reconquered  his  kingdom." 

*'  Little  one," — the  king  lowered  his  voice, — "  he 
died  of  hunger,  dreading  lest  he  should  be  poisoned 
by  the  dauphin,  who  had  already  caused  the  death 
of  beautiful  Agnes  Sorel.  The  father  feared  his  son; 
to-day,  the  son  fears  his  mother!" 

"Why  do  you  burrow  in  the  past?"  she  said, 
thinking  of  the  horrible  life  of  Charles  VI. 

"What  can  you  expect,  dearest?  kings  can  ascer- 
tain what  fate  awaits  them  without  having  recourse 
to  soothsayers;  they  need  only  consult  history.  I 
am  at  this  moment  intent  upon  avoiding  the  fate  of 
Charles  the  Simple,  who  was  robbed  of  his  crown, 
and  died  in  prison  after  seven  years  of  captivity." 

"Charles  V.  drove  out  the  English!"  she  ex- 
claimed, triumphantly. 

"Not  he,  but  Du  Guesclin;  for  he  was  poisoned 
by  Charles  of  Navarre,  and  simply  languished  for 
years." 

"But  Charles  IV.?" 

"  He  married  three  times,  but  never  had  an  heir, 
notwithstanding  the  virile  beauty  which  distinguished 
the  children  of  Philippe  le  Bel.  The  first  Valois  line 
came  to  an  end  with  him,  and  the  second  line  will 
end  in  the  same  way;  the  queen  has  given  me  a 
daughter  only,  and  I  shall  not  leave  her  enceinte 
when  I  die,  for  a  minority  would  be  the  greatest 
calamity  with  which  the  kingdom  could  be  afflicted. 
In  any  event,  would  a  son  of  mine  live?    This  name 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  415 

Charles  is  of  evil  augury,  Charlemagne  exhausted  all 
its  good  fortune.  If  I  should  become  King  of  France 
again,  I  should  tremble  to  call  myself  Charles  X." 

"Who  has  designs  on  your  crown,  pray?" 

"  My  brother  D'Alenjon  is  conspiring  against  me. 
I  see  enemies  everywhere — " 

"Monsieur,"  said  Marie,  with  a  bewitching  little 
pout,  "tell  me  something  more  cheerful." 

"  My  precious  jewel,"  replied  the  king,  earnestly, 
"never  call  me  'monsieur,'  even  in  jest;  you  re- 
mind me  of  my  mother,  who  constantly  stabs  me 
with  that  title,  by  which  she  seems  to  rob  me  of  my 
crown.  She  says  *  my  son  '  to  the  Due  d'Anjou,  I 
mean  the  King  of  Poland." 

"Sire,"  said  Marie,  clasping  her  hands  as  if  she 
were  praying,  "there  is  a  realm  in  which  you  are 
adored.  YOUR  MAJESTY  fills  it  with  his  glory  and 
his  might;  and  there  the  word  *  monsieur '  means 
my  beloved  lord." 

She  unclasped  her  hands,  and  with  a  pretty  gesture 
pointed  to  her  heart.  The  words  were  so  musiquees — 
to  use  a  word  then  in  vogue  to  depict  the  melodies 
of  love — that  Charles  put  his  arm  about  her  waist, 
lifted  her  with  the  nervous  strength  for  which  he 
was  noted,  seated  her  on  his  knee,  and  gently 
rubbed  his  brow  against  the  curls  which  his  mis- 
tress had  arranged  so  coquettishly. 

Marie  deemed  the  moment  favorable,  and  ventured 
a  kiss  or  two,  which  Charles  endured  rather  than  ac- 
cepted; then,  between  two  kisses,  she  said  to  him: 

"  If  my  people  did  not  lie,  you  prowled  about  Paris 


4l6  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

all  last  night,  as  in  the  days  when  you  used  to  do 
foolish  things  like  a  genuine  younger  son." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  king,  still  lost  in  thought. 

"I  suppose  you  beat  the  watch  and  stripped  an 
honest  bourgeois  or  two?  Who,  pray,  are  the  men 
whom  you  gave  me  to  keep,  and  who  are  such 
criminals  that  you  forbade  any  communication  with 
them?  Never  was  maiden  held  in  stricter  seclusion 
than  those  fellows,  who  have  neither  eaten  nor 
drunk;  Solern's  Germans  will  allow  no  one  to  go 
near  the  room  in  which  you  placed  them.  Is  it  a 
jest?  or  is  it  a  serious  matter?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  king,  rousing  himself  from  his 
reverie,  "I  set  out  for  a  run  over  the  roofs  with 
Tavannes  and  the  Gondis;  I  hoped  to  find  in  them 
the  companions  of  my  escapades  in  the  old  days, 
but  our  legs  are  not  what  they  used  to  be:  we  dared 
not  jump  across  the  streets.  However,  we  did  cross 
two  courtyards,  leaping  from  one  roof  to  the  other. 
At  last,  when  we  had  arrived  at  a  certain  gable  a 
few  steps  ftom  here,  Tavannes  and  I  agreed,  as  we 
clung  to  the  bar  of  a  chimney,  that  we  would  do 
no  more  of  it.  Neither  of  us,  if  he  had  been  alone, 
would  have  taken  that  last  leap." 

"You  went  first,  I  will  wager." 

The  king  smiled. 

"  I  know  why  you  risk  your  life  thus." 

"Oh!  the  lovely  sorceress!" 

"  You  are  tired  of  life." 

"A  plague  on  sorcerers!  I  am  haunted  by  them," 
said  the  king,  resuming  a  serious  expression. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  417 

"My  sorcery  is  love,"  she  replied,  with  a  smile. 
**  Since  the  blessed  hour  when  you  first  loved  me, 
have  I  not  always  divined  your  thoughts?  And  if 
you  will  allow  me  to  tell  you  the  truth,  the  thoughts 
which  torment  you  to-day  are  unworthy  of  a  king." 

"Am  I  a  king?"  said  he,  bitterly. 

"Can  you  not  be?  What  did  Charles  VII.  do, 
whose  name  you  bear?  he  listened  to  his  mistress, 
monseigneur,  and  reconquered  his  kingdom  when 
it  was  overrun  by  the  English  as  yours  is  by  the 
adherents  of  the  new  religion.  Your  last  coup  d'Etat 
marked  out  the  path  that  you  must  follow.  Exter- 
minate the  heresy." 

"You  blamed  the  ruse,"  said  Charles,  "and  to- 
day—" 

"  It  is  something  that  is  done,"  she  rejoined; 
"besides,  I  am  of  Madame  Catherine's  opinion, that 
it  was  better  to  do  it  yourself  than  to  let  the  Guises 
do  it." 

"  Charles  VII.  had  only  men  to  contend  with,  and  1 
am  confronted  with  ideas,"  replied  the  king.  "  One 
can  kill  men,  but  one  cannot  kill  words!  The  Emperor 
Charles  V.  abandoned  the  attempt,  his  son  Philip  II. 
is  exhausting  his  strength  at  it,  and  it  will  be  the 
death  of  all  us  kings.  Upon  whom  can  I  lean  for  sup- 
port? On  the  right,  among  the  Catholics,  I  find  the 
Guises  threatening  me;  on  the  left  are  the  Calvin- 
ists,  who  will  never  forgive  me  for  the  death  of  poor 
Pere  Coligny  and  the  August  bloodletting;  more- 
over, they  aim  at  the  suppression  of  the  throne;  and 
lastly,  in  front  of  me,  I  have  my  mother — " 
27 


4l8  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"Arrest  her,  reign  alone,"  said  Marie,  in  a  low 
tone,  close  to  the  king's  ear. 

"  I  intended  to  do  so  yesterday,  and  to-day  1  can- 
not.    It  is  very  easy  for  you  to  talk  about  it." 

"  The  distance  is  not  so  very  great  between  an 
apothecary's  daughter  and  a  doctor's,"  rejoined 
Marie  Touchet,  who  was  fond  of  jesting  concerning 
the  origin  erroneously  attributed  to  Catherine. 

The  king  frowned. 

"  Do  not  take  such  liberties,  Marie!  Catherine 
de'  Medici  is  my  rnother,  and  you  should  tremble  at 
the  thought  of—" 

"  What  is  it  that  you  dread  ?" 

**  Poison!"  exclaimed  the  king,  beside  himself. 

"  Poor  child  !"  cried  Marie,  restraining  her  tears, 
for  the  spectacle  of  such  strength  joined  to  such 
weakness  had  moved  her  deeply. — "Ah!"  she  con- 
tinued, "you  make  me  hate  Madame  Catherine, 
who  used  to  seem  to  me  so  kind  and  good,  but 
whose  acts  of  kindness  now  seem  to  me  base  per- 
fidy. Why  is  she  so  kind  to  me  and  so  cruel  to 
you.?  During  my  stay  in  Dauphine,  1  learned  cer- 
tain facts  concerning  the  beginning  of  your  reign, 
which  you  have  always  concealed  from  me,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  queen,  your  mother,  has 
caused  all  your  misfortunes." 

"  How  so?"  cried  the  king,  profoundly  interested. 

"  Women  whose  hearts  and  whose  purposes  are 
pure  rely  upon  their  virtues  to  govern  the  men  they 
love;  but  women  who  wish  them  no  good  govern 
them  by  using  their  evil  inclinations  as  levers;  now, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  419 

the  queen  has  transformed  some  of  your  noble  qual- 
ities into  vices,  and  has  made  you  believe  that  your 
evil  instincts  were  virtues.  Was  that  the  proper 
part  for  a  mother  to  play?  Be  a  tyrant  after  the 
manner  of  Louis  XL,  inspire  profound  terror;  imi- 
tate King  Philip,  banish  the  Italians,  drive  out  the 
Guises,  and  confiscate  the  estates  of  the  Calvinists; 
you  will  magnify  yourself  in  that  solitude  and  you 
will  save  the  throne.  The  moment  is  favorable, 
your  brother  is  in  Poland." 

"We  are  two  babes  in  politics,"  said  Charles, 
bitterly,  "we  know  how  to  do  nothing  but  make 
love.  Alas!  my  dearest  love,  I  thought  of  all  this 
yesterday.  I  determined  to  accomplish  great  things: 
bah!  my  mother  simply  breathed  on  my  house  of 
cards.  At  a  distance,  questions  are  clearly  outlined, 
like  mountain-peaks,  and  everyone  says:  '  I  would 
make  an  end  of  Calvinism,  I  would  bring  Messieurs 
de  Guise  to  their  senses,  I  would  sever  my  connec- 
tion with  the  court  of  Rome,  I  would  lean  on  the 
people,  on  the  bourgeoisie;'  in  a  word,  everything 
seems  most  simple  at  a  distance;  but  when  you 
undertake  to  climb  the  mountains,  the  difificulties 
become  more  and  more  evident  as  you  draw  nearer 
and  nearer  to  them.  Calvinism  is  in  itself  of  the 
very  slightest  interest  to  the  party  leaders,  and 
Messieurs  de  Guise,  those  fanatical  Catholics, 
would  be  in  despair  to  see  Calvinism  destroyed. 
Everyone  obeys  his  own  selfish  interests  first  of 
all,  and  religious  opinions  serve  as  a  cloak  for  insa- 
tiable ambitions.     The  party  of  Charles  IX.  is  the 


420  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

weakest  of  all:  the  parties  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
of  the  King  of  Poland,  of  the  Due  d'Alenjon,  of 
the  Condes,  of  the  Guises,  and  of  my  mother,  form 
coalitions  against  one  another  and  leave  me  all 
alone,  even  in  my  council.  Of  all  these  elements 
of  disturbance,  my  mother  is  the  strongest,  and  she 
has  demonstrated  to  me  the  utter  futility  of  my 
plans.  We  are  surrounded  by  subjects  who  snap 
their  fingers  at  the  law.  The  axe  of  Louis  XI.,  of 
which  you  just  spoke,  we  have  not.  The  Parlia- 
ment would  never  convict  the  Guises,  nor  the  King 
of  Navarre,  nor  the  Condes,  nor  my  brothers;  it 
would  think  that  it  was  setting  the  kingdom  on  fire. 
One  must  have  the  courage  required  to  commit 
murder;  the  throne  will  come  to  terms  some  day 
with  these  insolent  villains  who  have  nullified  the 
law;  but  where  are  we  to  find  faithful  arms.-*  The 
council  held  this  morning  filled  me  with  disgust  of 
everything:  on  all  sides  treachery,  on  all  sides  clash- 
ing interests.  I  am  weary  of  wearing  my  crown,  I 
have  no  wish  save  to  die  in  peace." 

And  he  relapsed  into  his  gloomy  musing. 

"  Disgusted  with  everything!"  echoed  Marie  Tou- 
chet,  sorrowfully,  respecting  her  lover's  dejected 
torpor. 

Charles  was,  in  fact,  utterly  prostrated  both  in 
mind  and  body,  a  condition  produced  by  the  exhaus- 
tion of  all  his  faculties  and  intensified  by  the  dis- 
couragement consequent  upon  the  extent  of  the 
disaster,  the  evident  impossibility  of  triumph,  or 
the  sight  of  obstacles  so  numerous  that  genius  itself 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  42I 

would  be  dismayed.  The  king's  prostration  was 
proportioned  to  the  height  of  exaltation  which  his 
courage  and  his  ideas  had  recently  attained;  then, 
too,  a  paroxysm  of  nervous  melancholy,  engendered 
by  the  disease  from  which  he  was  suffering,  had 
seized  him  when  he  came  forth  from  the  protracted 
council  held  in  his  closet.  Marie  saw  that  he  was 
in  the  throes  of  one  of  those  attacks  in  which 
everything  is  painful  and  annoying,  even  love;  so 
she  knelt  on  the  floor,  her  head  resting  on  the  king's 
knees,  who  kept  his  hand  in  his  mistress's  hair, 
without  moving,  without  a  word,  without  a  sigh; 
and  she  was  as  motionless  as  he.  Charles  was 
buried  in  the  lethargy  of  impotence,  and  Marie  in 
the  despairing  stupor  of  the  loving  woman  who  sees 
in  the  distance  the  boundaries  at  which  love  ends. 

The  lovers  remained  thus  in  absolute  silence  for 
a  long  moment,  one  of  those  moments  when  every 
reflection  makes  a  wound,  when  the  clouds  of  an 
inward  tempest  cast  a  veil  over  everything,  even 
the  memories  of  happiness.  Marie  believed  that 
she  was  partly  responsible  for  this  terrifying  fit  of 
depression.  She  asked  herself,  not  without  terror, 
if  the  excessive  joy  with  which  the  king  had  greeted 
her  return,  and  the  violent  passion  which  she  did 
not  feel  strong  enough  to  contend  against,  had  not 
enfeebled  Charles  IX.  in  body  and  mind.  As  she 
raised  her  eyes,  streaming  with  tears,  toward  her 
lover,  she  saw  tears  in  his  eyes  and  on  his  pallid 
cheeks.  That  sympathy  which  united  them  even  in 
grief  moved  the  king  so  deeply  that  he  threw  off  his 


422  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

lethargy  like  a  horse  pricked  with  the  spur;  he  put 
his  arm  around  Marie's  waist,  and  before  she  could 
guess  his  purpose,  he  had  seated  her  on  the  couch. 

"  I  will  be  king  no  more,"  he  said,  **  1  will  be 
your  lover,  nothing  else,  and  forget  everything  in 
pleasure!  I  prefer  to  die  happy,  and  not  consumed 
by  the  anxieties  of  the  throne." 

The  tone  in  which  he  spoke  and  the  fire  that 
gleamed  in  his  eyes,  but  now  lifeless,  caused  Marie 
a  horrible  pang  instead  of  gratifying  her.  At  that 
moment,  she  accused  her  love  of  complicity  in  caus- 
ing the  disease  of  which  the  king  was  dying. 

"  You  forget  your  prisoners,"  she  said,  springing 
abruptly  to  her  feet. 

"  What  are  those  men  to  me!  I  give  them  leave 
to  assassinate  me." 

"  What!  are  they  assassins.^""  she  exclaimed. 

"  Be  not  alarmed,  we  have  them  fast,  dear  child! 
do  not  think  of  them,  but  of  me;  do  you  not  love 
me.?" 

"  Sire!"  she  cried. 

"'Sire,?'"  he  repeated,  while  his  eyes  flashed 
fire,  so  violent  was  the  first  outburst  of  wrath  called 
forth  by  his  mistress's  unseasonable  respect.  **  You 
have  an  understanding  with  my  mother!" 

"  O  God!"  cried  Marie,  gazing  at  the  portrait  on 
her  prie-Dieu,  and  striving  to  reach  it  in  order  to 
kneel  and  pray.  "O  God,  grant  that  he  understand 
me!" 

"  Aha!"  rejoined  the  king,  in  a  threatening  tone, 
**so  you  have  something  to  reproach  yourself  for.?" 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  423 

He  gazed  at  her  as  he  held  her  in  his  arms,  he 
buried  his  eyes  in  hers. 

"  I  have  heard  of  the  mad  passion  of  a  certain 
D'Entragues  for  you,"  he  said,  wildly,  "and,  since 
Captain  Balzac,  their  grandfather,  married  a  Vis- 
conti  at  Milan,  the  knaves  stick  at  nothing." 

Marie  met  the  king's  gaze  with  such  a  proud  ex- 
pression that  he  was  ashamed.  At  that  moment, 
little  Charles  de  Valois,  who  had  just  awakened, 
and  whom  his  nurse  was  evidently  bringing  to  his 
mother,  made  himself  heard  in  the  adjoining  salon. 

"  Come  in,  La  Bourguignonne!"  said  Marie,  taking 
the  child  from  the  nurse  and  carrying  him  to  the  king. 
"  You  are  more  of  a  child  than  he,"  she  said,  half 
offended,  half  mollified. 

"He  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Charles,  taking  his 
son  in  his  arms. 

"  I  alone  know  how  closely  he  resembles  you," 
said  Marie:  "he  has  your  gestures  and  your  smile 
already." 

"  So  small?"  queried  the  king,  with  a  smile. 

"  Men  will  never  believe  such  things,"  she  said; 
"  but  take  him,  my  Chariot,  play  with  him,  watch 
him!  see,  am  I  not  right?" 

"  It  is  true!"  exclaimed  the  king,  surprised  by  a 
motion  on  the  part  of  the  child  which  seemed  to  him 
a  miniature  copy  of  one  of  his  own  gestures. 

"  The  lovely  blossom!"  said  the  mother.  "  He 
will  never  leave  me!  he  will  never  cause  me  any 
grief." 

The  king  played  with  his  son,  jumped  him  up  and 


424  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

down,  kissed  him  with  intense  passion,  said  to  him 
the  foolish,  unmeaning  words,  the  fascinating  ono- 
matopoeia which  mothers  and  nurses  invent;  he  talked 
in  a  childish  voice,  and  finally  his  brow  cleared,  a 
joyful  expression  returned  to  his  saddened  face, 
and  when  Marie  saw  that  her  lover  had  forgotten 
everything,  she  laid  her  head  on  his  shoulder  and 
whispered  these  words  in  his  ear: 

"  Will  you  not  tell  me,  my  Chariot,  why  you  give 
me  assassins  to  watch,  and  who  these  men  are, 
and  what  you  intend  to  do  with  them?  And,  lastly, 
where  did  you  go  on  the  roofs?  I  trust  that  there's 
no  woman  in  the  case?" 

"  Do  you  still  love  me  so  much?"  said  the  king, 
surprised  by  the  clear  radiance  of  one  of  those  ques- 
tioning glances  which  women  know  how  to  cast  on 
occasion. 

"Could  you  doubt  me?"  she  replied,  the  tears 
glistening  between  her  lovely  eyelids. 

"  There  are  women  concerned  in  my  adventure; 
but  they  are  witches.     Where  was  I?" 

"  You  were  within  a  few  steps  of  here,  on  the 
gable  end  of  a  house,"  said  Marie;  **  on  what 
street?' 

**  Rue  Saint-Honore,  dearest,"  said  the  king,  who 
seemed  to  have  recovered  his  self-control,  and  with 
it  the  determination  to  prepare  his  mistress  for  the 
scene  about  to  take  place  under  her  roof.  "As  we 
passed  through  that  street  last  night  in  our  wander- 
ings, my  eyes  were  attracted  by  a  bright  light  from 
a  window  under  the  eaves  of  the  house  occupied 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  425 

by  Rene,  purveyor  of  perfumery  and  gloves  to  my 
mother,  yourself,  and  the  court.  I  have  violent  sus- 
picions as  to  what  goes  on  in  that  man's  house,  and 
if  I  am  poisoned,  the  poison  is  brewed  there." 

"  I  leave  him  to-morrow,"  said  Marie. 

"Ah!  so  you  kept  him  when  I  gave  him  up?" 
cried  the  king.  "  My  life  was  here,"  he  continued 
in  a  gloomy  tone,  "  doubtless  they  have  sown  death 
here  for  me." 

"But,  my  child,  I  have  just  returned  from  Dau- 
phine,  with  our  dauphin,"  she  said,  with  a  smile, 
"  and  Rene  has  not  supplied  me  with  anything  since 
the  Queen  of  Navarre's  death.  Go  on — you  climbed 
up  to  the  roof  of  Rene's  house?" 

"  Yes.  In  a  moment,  followed  by  Tavannes,  I 
had  reached  a  spot  whence  I  could  see,  unseen  my- 
self, the  interior  of  the  devil's  kitchen,  and  observe 
things  there  which  inspired  the  measures  I  have 
taken.  Did  you  ever  examine  the  eaves  of  that 
damned  Florentine's  house?  The  windows  on  the 
street  are  always  closed,  except  the  last  one  from 
which  he  can  see  the  H6tel  de  Soissons  and  the 
column  my  mother  built  for  her  astrologer,  Cosmo 
Ruggieri.  Under  those  eaves  there  is  a  sleeping- 
room  and  a  corridor  lighted  only  from  the  courtyard, 
so  that,  in  order  to  see  what  is  going  on  there,  one 
must  climb  where  no  man  would  ever  dream  of 
climbing,  to  the  coping  of  a  high  wall  which  ends  at 
Rene's  roof.  The  men  who  have  set  up  in  those 
rooms  the  crucibles  in  which  they  distil  death  counted 
on  the  cowardice  of  Parisians  to  ensure  their  not 


426  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

being  watched;  but  they  reckoned  without  their 
Charles  de  Valois.  I  crawled  along  the  gutter  to  a 
window,  where  1  could  stand  up  straight  against  the 
jamb  by  passing  my  arm  around  the  monkey  with 
which  it  was  ornamented." 

"  And  what  did  you  see,  dear  heart?"  said  Marie, 
trembling  with  apprehension. 

"  A  den  in  which  the  works  of  darkness  are  car- 
ried on,"  replied  the  king.  "  The  first  object  on 
which  my  eyes  fell  was  a  tall  old  man  seated  in  a 
chair,  with  a  magnificent  beard  as  white  as  old 
L'H6pitars,  and  dressed  like  him,  in  a  black  velvet 
gown.  Upon  his  broad  forehead,  furrowed  deep  by 
wrinkles,  upon  his  crown  of  white  hair,  upon  his 
placid,  watchful  face,  pale  from  toil  and  sleepless 
nights,  were  concentrated  the  beams  of  a  lamp 
which  cast  a  brilliant  light.  He  was  dividing  his  at- 
tention between  a  venerable  manuscript,  the  parch- 
ment of  which  must  have  been  several  centuries  old, 
and  two  crucibles  with  fires  beneath,  in  which  un- 
godly concoctions  were  brewing.  The  floor,  ceiling, 
and  walls  of  the  laboratory  were  nowhere  visible, 
there  were  so  many  animals  covering  them,  and 
skeletons,  dried  plants,  minerals,  and  ingredients  of 
all  kinds;  on  one  side,  books,  distilling  apparatus, 
boxes  filled  with  utensils  of  magic  and  astrology;  on 
the  other,  horoscopes,  phials,  pierced  figures, — en- 
voutees — and,  it  may  be,  poisons  which  he  furnishes 
Rene  in  payment  for  the  hospitality  and  shelter 
which  my  mother's  perfumer  accords  him.  Tavan- 
nes  and  1  were  thunderstruck,  I  promise  you,  by  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  427 

aspect  of  that  devil's  arsenal;  for,  simply  by  looking 
at  it,  you  fall  under  the  spell,  and,  had  I  not  been  King 
of  France,  I  should  have  been  afraid. — '  Tremble  for 
us  both!'  I  said  to  Tavannes.  But  Tavannes's  eyes 
were  fascinated  by  that  most  mysterious  of  spec- 
tacles. On  the  couch  beside  the  old  man  lay  a  girl 
of  the  most  peculiar  type  of  beauty,  slender  and  long 
as  a  snake,  white  as  an  ermine,  pale  as  a  corpse, 
motionless  as  a  statue.  It  may  have  been  a  woman 
recently  exhumed  for  the  purposes  of  some  experi- 
ment or  other,  for  she  seemed  to  our  eyes  to  be  still 
wearing  her  shroud;  her  eyes  were  fixed,  and  I  did 
not  see  her  breathe.  The  old  villain  did  not  pay  the 
least  attention  to  her;  I  gazed  at  him  with  such  pro- 
found interest  that  his  mind  passed  into  me,  I  verily 
believe;  by  dint  of  studying  him,  I  ended  by  admiring 
that  glance,  so  keen  and  penetrating  and  bold,  de- 
spite the  chills  of  age;  those  lips  moved  by  thoughts 
emanating  from  a  desire  that  seemed  unique;  lips 
which  remained  always  grave  amid  their  innumer- 
able folds.  Everything  about  the  man  indicated  a 
hope  which  nothing  can  daunt,  which  nothing  can 
check.  His  attitude, — he  quivered  every  instant 
in  his  immobility, — the  lines  of  his  face,  so  sharp, 
so  perfectly  shaped  by  a  passion  that  performs  the 
functions  of  a  sculptor's  chisel,  that  idea  concen- 
trated on  some  criminal  or  scientific  experiment,  that 
unwearied  intelligence,  following  close  on  the  heels 
of  nature,  vanquished  by  nature,  and  bent  without 
breaking  under  the  burden  of  its  audacity  which  it 
does  not  abandon,  threatening  creation  with  the  fire 


428  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

it  derives  therefrom — all  combined  to  fascinate  me 
for  a  moment.  That  old  man  seemed  to  me  more 
kingly  than  myself,  for  his  glance  embraced  the 
whole  world  and  dominated  it.  I  have  resolved  to 
forge  no  more  swords,  I  propose  to  soar  above  the 
abysses  of  life  as  that  old  man  does;  his  learning 
seemed  to  me  the  surest  form  of  royalty.  In  fact, 
I  believe  in  the  occult  sciences." 

"  You,  the  oldest  son,  the  avenger  of  the  Cath- 
olic, Apostolic,  and  Roman  Church.?"  said  Marie. 

"Yes,  I!" 

"What  can  have  happened  to  you?  Go  on;  I 
choose  to  be  afraid  for  you,  and  you  shall  have 
courage  for  me." 

"With  a  glance  at  his  clock,  the  old  man  rose," 
continued  the  king;  "he  went  out,  I  cannot  say  how, 
but  I  heard  the  window  on  Rue  Saint-Honore  open. 
Soon  a  light  shone  in  the  darkness;  then  I  saw  an- 
other light,  on  the  column  of  the  Hotel  de  Soissons, 
answer  the  old  man's,  and  by  it  we  could  distin- 
guish Cosmo  Ruggieri  at  the  top  of  the  column. 
*Ah!  they  have  an  understanding!'  I  said  to  Tavan- 
nes,  who  was  horribly  suspicious  of  everything,  and 
who  shared  my  opinion  that  we  should  seize  those 
two  men  and  have  their  ghastly  laboratory  exam- 
ined at  once.  But,  before  proceeding  to  a  general 
seizure,  we  concluded  to  wait  and  see  what  hap- 
pened. After  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  lab- 
oratory door  opened,  and  Cosmo  Ruggieri,  my 
mother's  adviser,  the  bottomless  pit  which  swal- 
lows all  the  secrets  of  the  court,  the  man  to  whom 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  429 

women  apply  for  help  against  their  husbands  and 
their  lovers,  and  to  whom  the  husbands  and  lovers 
apply  for  help  against  their  unfaithful  wives  and 
mistresses,  the  man  who  deals  in  the  future  and  the 
past,  receiving  money  from  every  hand,  the  man  who 
sells  horoscopes  and  is  supposed  to  know  every- 
thing— that  half-devil  entered,  greeting  the  old  man 
with  a  'Good-evening,  brother!'  He  brought  with 
him  a  frightful  little  old  woman,  toothless,  hunch- 
backed, distorted,  crooked  as  an  Indian  image,  but 
more  horrible;  she  was  as  wrinkled  as  an  old  apple, 
her  skin  had  a  tinge  of  saffron,  her  chin  met  her  nose, 
her  mouth  was  an  almost  invisible  line,  her  eyes  re- 
sembled the  black  spots  on  dice,  her  brow  exhaled 
sardonic  bitterness,  her  hair  escaped  in  gray  wisps 
from  beneath  a  filthy  cap;  she  leaned  on  a  crutch 
as  she  walked;  she  smelt  of  witchcraft  and  the 
stake;  she  frightened  us,  for  neither  Tavannes  nor 
myself  took  her  for  a  human  being — God  never 
made  anything  so  hideous  as  that.  She  seated 
herself  on  a  stool  beside  the  pretty  white  snake 
with  which  Tavannes  had  fallen  in  love.  The 
two  brothers  paid  no  attention  to  the  old  woman 
or  the  young  one,  who  formed  a  ghastly  couple. 
On  the  one  hand,  life  in  death;  on  the  other,  death 
in  life." 

"  My  charming  poet!"  cried  Marie,  kissing  the 
king. 

"  *  Good-evening,  Cosmo,*  the  old  alchemist  re- 
plied. 

"And  they  both  looked  at  the  crucible. 


430  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

*"What  is  the  moon's  power  to-day?'  the  old 
man  asked. 

"  'Why,  caro  LoreuT^o,''  replied  my  mother's  astrol- 
oger, *  the  high  tides  of  September  are  not  yet  at  an 
end;  we  can  ascertain  nothing  while  everything  is 
in  such  confusion.' 

"  '  What  says  the  Orient  to  us  to-night.?' 

"  '  He  has  discovered,'  replied  Cosmo,  *  a  creative 
force  in  the  air  which  gives  back  to  the  earth  all 
that  it  takes  from  it;  he  concludes,  with  us,  that 
everything  on  earth  is  the  result  of  a  gradual  trans- 
formation, but  that  all  different  things  are  forms  of 
the  same  substance.' 

" '  That  is  what  my  predecessor  believed,'  said 
Lorenzo.  *  Bernard  Palissy  told  me  this  morning 
that  metals  were  the  result  of  compression,  and  that 
fire,  which  divides  everything,  also  unites  every- 
thing; that  fire  has  the  power  to  compress  as  well 
as  to  separate.     That  fellow  has  genius.' 

"  Although  I  was  in  such  a  position  that  I  could  not 
be  seen,  Cosmo  said,  taking  the  dead  girl's  hand: 

"  '  There  is  some  one  near  us!     Who  is  it.?' 

**  *  The  king!'  she  said. 

**  Thereupon  I  showed  myself  at  the  window  and 
tapped  on  the  glass;  Ruggieri  opened  the  window 
and  I  leaped  into  that  hell's  kitchen,  followed  by 
Tavannes. 

"  *  Yes,  the  king,'  I  said  to  the  two  Florentines, 
who  seemed  paralyzed  with  fear.  *  With  all  your 
crucibles  and  your  books,  your  magic  and  your  sci- 
ence, you  could  not  divine   my  visit. — I  am  very 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  431 

pleased  to  see  the  illustrious  Lorenzo  Ruggieri  of 
whom  the  queen  my  mother  speaks  so  mysteri- 
ously,' I  said  to  the  old  man,  who  rose  and  bowed. 
*You  are  in  the  kingdom  without  my  permission, 
goodman.  In  whose  interest  are  you  working  here, 
you,  whose  ancestors,  from  father  to  son,  have  been 
dear  to  the  heart  of  the  House  of  Medici?  Hark 
ye!  You  have  your  hand  in  so  many  purses,  that 
people  of  ordinary  greed  would  long  since  have 
been  stuffed  to  repletion  with  gold;  you  are  too 
cunning  to  embark  upon  criminal  enterprises  im- 
prudently, but  you  would  have  done  well  not  to 
shut  yourselves  up  like  idiots  in  this  kitchen;  you 
must  have  secret  designs,  since  you  are  content 
neither  with  money  nor  with  power.  Whom  do  you 
serve?  God  or  the  devil?  What  do  you  make  here? 
I  will  have  the  whole  truth,  I  am  capable  of  under- 
standing it  and  of  maintaining  secrecy  concerning 
your  enterprises,  however  blameworthy  they  may 
be.  You  will  tell  me  everything,  therefore,  with- 
out concealment.  If  you  deceive  me,  you  will  be 
severely  dealt  with.  Pagans  or  Christians,  Calvin- 
ists  or  Mahometans,  you  have  my  royal  word  that 
you  may  leave  the  kingdom  unpunished,  in  case  you 
have  any  peccadilloes  upon  your  consciences.  How- 
ever, I  will  give  you  the  rest  of  the  night  and  to- 
morrow morning  to  search  your  consciences,  for  you 
are  my  prisoners,  and  you  will  follow  me  to  a  place 
where  you  will  be  guarded  like  precious  treasures.' 

"  Before  complying  with  my  orders,  the  two  Flor- 
entines consulted  each  other  with  a  sly  glance,  and 


432  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Lorenzo  Ruggieri  informed  me  that  1  might  be  cer- 
tain that  no  torture  could  extort  their  secrets  from 
them;  notwithstanding  their  apparent  feebleness, 
neither  pain  nor  human  feelings  had  any  power 
over  them;  confidence  alone  could  make  their  lips 
tell  what  their  minds  withheld.  1  need  not  be  sur- 
prised, he  said,  that  they  dealt  upon  a  footing  of 
equality  with  a  king  who  acknowledged  no  one  but 
God  above  him,  for  their  thoughts  also  came  from 
God.  Therefore  they  claimed  from  me  as  much 
confidence  as  they  accorded  me.  Now,  before  un- 
dertaking to  answer  my  questions  unreservedly, 
they  asked  me  to  place  my  left  hand  in  the  young 
girl's,  and  my  right  in  the  old  woman's.  As  I  did 
not  choose  to  give  them  any  reason  for  thinking 
that  I  was  afraid  of  witchcraft,  I  held  out  my  hands. 
Lorenzo  took  the  right  hand,  Cosmo  the  left,  and 
placed  them  in  the  hands  of  the  old  and  the  young 
woman,  so  that  1  was  like  Jesus  Christ  between 
his  two  thieves.  Throughout  the  time  that  the  sor- 
ceresses were  examining  my  hands,  Cosmo  held  a 
mirror  before  me,  requesting  me  to  look  at  myself 
in  it,  and  his  brother  talked  with  the  two  women  in 
a  strange  tongue.  Neither  Tavannes  nor  myself 
could  gather  the  meaning  of  a  single  sentence. — 
Before  we  brought  the  two  men  here,  we  placed 
seals  on  all  the  exits  of  that  laboratory,  which 
Tavannes  undertook  to  guard  until  Bernard  Palissy 
and  Chapelain,  my  physician,  should  be  brought 
there,  by  my  express  order,  to  make  an  exact  in- 
ventory of  all  the  drugs  that  were  kept  or  made 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  433 

there.  In  order  to  keep  them  in  ignorance  of  the 
investigations  that  were  being  made  in  their  kitchen, 
and  to  prevent  them  from  having  communication 
with  any  person  outside,  for  they  might  have  con- 
cocted some  scheme  with  my  mother,  I  placed  the 
two  devils  in  secret  confinement  here  in  your  house, 
guarded  by  Solern's  Germans,  who  are  equal  to 
the  strongest  prison-walls.  Rene  himself  has  been 
kept  in  sight  in  his  room  by  Solern's  equerry,  and 
the  same  is  true  of  the  two  witches.  Now,  my 
dearest  darling,  since  I  hold  the  keys  of  the  cabal, 
the  kings  of  Thune,  the  leaders  of  the  legions  of 
sorcery,  the  princes  of  Bohemia,  the  masters  of  the 
future,  the  heirs  of  all  the  famous  fortune-tellers,  I 
propose  to  read  in  your  mind  and  heart,  so  that  we 
may  know  what  will  become  of  us!" 

"  I  shall  be  very  happy  if  they  can  lay  my  heart 
bare,"  said  Marie,  with  no  sign  of  apprehension. 

"  I  know  why  sorcerers  have  no  terrors  for  you: 
you  cast  spells  yourself." 

"Will  you  not  have  one  of  these  peaches?"  she 
replied,  offering  him  some  beautiful  fruit  on  a  gilt 
plate.  "  See  the  grapes  and  pears;  I  picked  them 
all  myself  at  Vincennes." 

*'  Then  I  will  eat  some  of  them,  for  there  is  no 
other  poison  to  dread  than  the  love-philters  that 
come  from  your  hands." 

"  You  should  eat  a  great  deal  of  fruit,  Charles; 
it  would  cool  your  blood,  which  you  are  drying  up 
with  all  your  violent  passions." 

"  Should  I  not  also  love  you  a  little  less.?" 
28 


434  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

'*  Perhaps,"  she  said.  "  If  the  things  you  love 
injure  you, — and  I  have  thought  so! — I  can  find  in 
my  love  the  strength  to  deny  them  to  you.  1  adore 
Charles  the  man  more  than  I  love  the  king,  and  I 
wish  the  man  to  live  without  these  tormenting  cares 
that  make  him  sad  and  thoughtful." 

"  Royalty  is  ruining  me." 

"  True,"  she  replied.  "  If  you  were  only  a  poor 
prince  like  your  brother-in-law,  the  King  of  Navarre, 
the  little  lady-killer  who  has  not  a  sou,  who  pos- 
sesses naught  but  a  paltry  kingdom  in  Spain,  where 
he  will  never  set  foot,  and  Beam  in  France,  which 
gives  him  barely  enough  to  live  on,  I  should  be 
happy,  much  happier  than  if  I  were  really  Queen 
of  France." 

"  But  are  you  not  more  than  the  queen?  She  has 
King  Charles  only  for  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom, 
for  what  is  the  queen  but  politics  in  another  form?" 

Marie  smiled,  and  said  with  a  sweet  little  pout: 

**  Nothing  else,  indeed,  sire.  What  about  my  son- 
net— is  it  written?" 

"  Dear  little  one,  verses  are  as  difficult  to  write  as 
edicts  of  pacification,  but  I  shall  finish  yours  soon. 
Mon  Dieu!  how  pleasant  life  is  to  me  here!  I  wish 
I  need  never  go  away.  And  yet  the  two  Florentines 
must  be  questioned.  Tete-Dieu!  I  considered  that 
one  Ruggieri  in  the  kingdom  was  more  than  enough, 
and  behold  there  are  two  of  them!  Listen,  my 
dearest  love,  you  do  not  lack  wit,  you  would  make 
an  excellent  lieutenant  of  police,  for  you  divine 
everything — " 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  435 

"  But,  sire,  we  imagine  whatever  we  dread,  and 
to  us  the  probable  is  the  true;  there,  in  a  word,  is 
the  whole  secret  of  our  shrewdness." 

"Very  well,  assist  me  to  probe  these  two  men. 
At  this  moment,  all  my  plans  depend  on  the  result  of 
their  examination.  Are  they  innocent?  are  they 
guilty?     My  mother  is  behind  them." 

"  I  hear  Jacob's  voice  on  the  stairs,"  said  Marie. 

Jacob  was  the  king's  favorite  valet,  who  attended 
him  in  all  his  expeditions  of  pleasure;  he  came  to 
ask  if  his  master  wished  to  speak  with  the  two 
prisoners. 

The  king  made  an  affirmative  sign,  and  the  mistress 
of  the  house  gave  her  orders. 

"Jacob,"  she  said,  "make  everybody  leave  the 
house  except  Monsieur  le  Dauphin  d'Auvergne  and 
his  nurse,  who  may  remain.  Do  you  yourself  re- 
main in  the  room  below;  but,  first  of  all,  close  the 
windows,  draw  the  curtains  in  the  salon,  and  light 
the  candles." 

The  king's  impatience  was  so  great  that,  before 
the  preparations  were  completed,  he  took  his  seat 
upon  a  raised  chair  beside  which  his  pretty  mistress 
had  placed  herself,  in  front  of  a  high  white  marble 
fireplace  in  which  a  bright  fire  was  blazing.  There 
was  a  portrait  of  the  king  in  a  red  velvet  frame  in 
place  of  the  mirror.  Charles  rested  his  elbow  on 
the  arm  of  his  chair,  the  better  to  scrutinize  the  two 
Florentines. 


When  the  windows  were  closed  and  the  curtains 
drawn,  Jacob  lighted  the  candles  in  a  carved  silver 
candelabrum,  and  placed  it  on  the  table  at  which 
the  two  Florentines  were  to  sit,  so  that  they  might 
recognize  the  handiwork  of  their  compatriot  Ben- 
venuto  Cellini.  The  rich  aspect  of  that  apartment, 
decorated  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  king,  became 
more  striking  in  the  bright  light.  One  could  see 
more  clearly  than  by  daylight  the  reddish-brown  of 
the  upholstery.  The  furniture,  carved  with  great 
delicacy,  reflected  candle-light  and  fire-light  in  its 
polished  ebony  panels.  The  gilding,  sparingly  dis- 
tributed, gleamed  here  and  there  like  eyes,  and 
gave  life  to  the  sombre  brown  which  was  the  pre- 
vailing color  in  that  abode  of  love. 

Jacob  knocked  twice,  and,  at  a  word  from  within, 
admitted  the  two  Florentines.  Marie  Touchet  was 
impressed  at  once  by  the  grandeur  of  aspect  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  great  and  small  to  Lorenzo 
Ruggieri.  That  austere  old  man,  whose  silvery 
beard  was  heightened  in  effect  by  a  black  velvet 
cape,  had  a  forehead  like  a  marble  dome.  His  stern 
face,  whence  two  black  eyes  cast  a  penetrating  flame, 
caused  the  thrill  of  emotion  that  one  feels  in  pres- 
ence of  a  genius  newly  come  forth  from  his  pro- 
found solitude,  a  genius  the  more  impressive  because 
his  power  was  not  blunted  by  contact  with  men. 
(437) 


438  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

One  might  have  likened  him  to  the  steel  of  a  blade 
that  has  never  been  used. 

As  for  Cosmo  Ruggieri,  he  wore  the  costume  of 
the  courtiers  of  that  period.  Marie  looked  at  the  king 
and  made  a  gesture  signifying  that  he  had  not  exag- 
gerated at  all  in  what  he  had  told  her,  and  thanking 
him  for  exhibiting  that  extraordinary  man  to  her. 

"I  would  have  liked  to  see  the  witches,  too," 
she  whispered  in  the  king's  ear. 

Charles  IX.,  once  more  lost  in  thought,  did  not 
reply;  he  was  absent-mindedly  picking  bread-crumbs 
from  his  doublet  and  breeches. 

"Your  science  can  produce  no  effect  on  the 
sky,  nor  compel  the  sun  to  appear,  my  Florentine 
friends,"  he  began,  pointing  to  the  curtains  which 
the  gray  Parisian  atmosphere  had  lowered.  "The 
light  is  fading." 

"  Our  science,  sire,  will  furnish  us  with  a  sky  to 
suit  our  whim,"  said  Lorenzo.  "  The  weather  is 
always  fine  to  him  who  works  in  a  laboratory  by 
the  light  of  his  furnaces." 

"  True,"  said  the  king.—"  Well,  father,"  he  con- 
tinued, using  a  title  which  he  commonly  applied  to 
old  men,  "will  you  explain  to  us  fully  the  aim  of 
your  studies.?" 

"Who  will  guarantee  us  impunity.?" 

"The  king's  word,"  replied  Charles,  whose  curi- 
osity was  keenly  excited  by  the  question. 

Lorenzo  seemed  to  hesitate,  whereupon  Charles 
exclaimed : 

"  What  detains  you.?  we  are  alone." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  439 

"Is  the  King  of  France  here?"  inquired  the  tall 
old  man. 

Charles  reflected  a  moment,  then  answered : 

"No." 

"  But  will  he  not  come.''"  persisted  Lorenzo. 

"No,"  said  Charles,  restraining  an  angry  out- 
burst. 

The  imposing  old  man  took  a  chair  and  sat  down. 
Cosmo,  astounded  by  such  presumption,  dared  not 
imitate  his  brother. 

"  The  king  is  not  here,  monsieur,"  said  Charles  IX., 
with  bitter  irony;  "  but  you  are  in  the  presence  of  a 
lady  whose  permission  you  should  await." 

"  He  whom  you  see  before  you,  madame,"  said 
the  tall  old  man,  thereupon,  "is  as  far  above  kings 
as  kings  are  above  their  subjects,  and  you  will  not 
think  me  lacking  in  courtesy  when  you  know  my 
power." 

Hearing  those  insolent  words,  uttered  with  true 
Italian  emphasis,  Charles  and  Marie  glanced  at  each 
other  and  at  Cosmo,  whose  eyes  were  fixed  upon  his 
brother,  and  who  seemed  to  be  saying  to  himself: 
"  How  will  he  extricate  himself  from  the  evil  plight 
in  which  we  are?" 

Indeed,  there  was  but  one  person  present  who 
could  appreciate  the  grandeur  and  craft  of  Lorenzo 
Ruggieri's  opening;  that  person  was  neither  the 
king  nor  his  young  mistress,  on  whom  the  old  man 
had  cast  the  spell  of  his  audacity,  but  the  wily 
Cosmo.  Although  far  superior  to  the  cleverest 
courtiers,  and,  perhaps,  to  Catherine  de'  Medici,  his 


440  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

patroness,  the  astrologer  acknowledged  his  brother 
Lorenzo  as  his  master. 

That  aged  scholar,  shrouded  in  solitude,  had 
passed  judgment  upon  the  sovereigns  of  Europe, 
almost  all  of  whom  were  exhausted  by  the  constant 
turmoil  of  an  epoch  when  political  crises  were  so 
sudden,  so  unexpected,  so  absorbing,  so  intense;  he 
knew  their  ennui,  their  weariness;  he  knew  with 
what  warmth  they  pursued  the  strange,  the  new, 
the  odd,  and  especially  how  they  delighted  to  soar 
in  intellectual  spheres,  to  avoid  being  always  at 
odds  with  men  and  events.  To  those  who  have  ex- 
hausted the  interest  of  politics,  naught  remains  but 
pure  thought;  Charles  V.  had  proved  it  by  his  abdi- 
cation. Charles  IX.,  who  forged  sonnets  and  swords 
to  escape  the  consuming  anxieties  of  public  affairs  in 
an  age  when  the  throne  was  in  no  less  danger  than 
the  king,  and  who  had  only  the  cares  of  kingship 
without  its  pleasures,  was  certain  to  be  rudely 
awakened  by  the  audacious  denial  of  his  power 
which  Lorenzo  had  ventured  to  make.  Impiety  in 
religious  matters  was  by  no  means  surprising  at  a 
time  when  Catholicism  was  being  so  savagely  scru- 
tinized; but  the  overturning  of  all  religion  put  for- 
ward as  a  foundation  for  the  wild  antics  of  a  mys- 
terious art  was  certain  to  make  a  deep  impression 
on  the  king  and  to  draw  him  out  of  his  gloomy  pre- 
occupation. Furthermore,  a  conquest  in  which  all 
mankind  was  involved  was  an  undertaking  which 
could  but  render  everything  else  of  trifling  conse- 
quence in  the  eyes  of  the  Ruggieri.     Upon  their 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  441 

success  in  imparting  that  idea  to.the  king  depended 
an  important  concession  which  the  brothers  could 
not  ask  and  which  they  must  obtain!  The  essential 
point  was  to  make  Charles  forget  his  suspicions  by 
bringing  him  face  to  face  with  some  new  idea. 

The  two  Italians  were  well  aware  that  the  stake 
in  that  strange  game  was  their  own  lives;  and  the 
glances,  at  once  submissive  and  proud,  with  which 
they  met  the  keen  and  suspicious  glances  of  Marie 
and  the  king,  were  a  whole  play  in  themselves. 

"Sire,"  said  Lorenzo  Ruggieri,  "you  have  asked 
me  for  the  truth;  but  in  order  to  lay  it  before  you 
in  all  its  nakedness,  I  must  cause  you  to  sound  the 
depth  of  the  supposed  well,  the  abyss  from  which  it 
is  about  to  come  forth.  May  the  nobleman,  the  poet, 
forgive  us  for  words  which  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Church  might  consider  blasphemous!  1  do  not  believe 
that  God  concerns  Himself  with  the  affairs  of  men." 

Although  firmly  resolved  to  maintain  a  kingly 
stoicism,  Charles  IX.  could  not  restrain  a  move- 
ment of  surprise. 

"  Except  for  that  conviction,  I  should  have  no  faith 
in  the  miraculous  work  to  which  I  have  devoted  my- 
self; but,  to  pursue  it,  it  is  necessary  to  believe  in 
it;  and  if  God's  finger  guides  everything,  I  am  a 
madman.  Let  me  inform  the  king,  therefore,  that 
our  aim  is  to  obtain  a  triumph  over  the  present  prog- 
ress of  human  nature.  I  am  an  alchemist,  sire.  But 
do  not  think  with  the  vulgar  herd  that  I  seek  to 
make  gold  !  The  manufacture  of  gold  is  not  the  ob- 
ject, but  an  incident,  of  our  investigations;  otherwise 


442  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

our  effort  would  not  be  called  the  GREAT  WORK! 

The  great  work  is  something  bolder  than  that.  If, 
therefore,  I  should  admit  to-day  the  presence  of  God 
in  matter,  at  my  voice,  the  flame  of  furnaces  lighted 
for  centuries  would  be  extinguished  to-morrow.  But 
to  deny  the  direct  action  of  God  is  not  to  deny  God, 
mark  that!  We  place  the  Author  of  all  things  on  a 
far  higher  plane  than  that  to  which  earthly  religions 
degrade  him.  Do  not  accuse  of  atheism  those  who 
seek  immortality.  Following  Lucifer's  example,  we 
are  jealous  of  God,  and  jealousy  predicates  passion- 
ate love!  Although  that  doctrine  is  the  basis  of  our 
labors,  all  adepts  are  not  imbued  with  it.  Cosmo," 
said  the  old  man,  pointing  to  his  brother,  "  Cosmo 
is  religious;  he  pays  for  masses  for  the  repose  of  our 
father's  soul  and  goes  to  hear  them.  Your  mother's 
astrologer  believes  in  the  divinity  of  Christ,  in  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  in  transubstantiation;  he 
believes  in  the  Pope's  indulgences,  in  hell,  in  an 
endless  number  of  things. — His  hour  is  not  yet 
come!  for  I  have  cast  his  horoscope,  and  he  will 
live  well-nigh  a  hundred  years:  he  is  destined  to  live 
through  two  more  reigns,  and  to  see  two  kings  of 
France  assassinated." 

"  Who  will  be.?"  queried  the  king. 

"  The  last  of  the  Valois  and  the  first  of  the  Bour- 
bons," replied  Lorenzo.  "But  Cosmo  will  come 
over  to  my  opinions.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  be 
an  alchemist  and  a  Catholic,  to  believe  in  man's 
despotic  power  over  matter  and  in  the  sovereignty 
of  the  spirit." 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  443 

"Cosmo  will  live  to  be  a  hundred?"  said  the 
king,  making  no  attempt  to  restrain  the  terrible 
contraction  of  his  eyebrows. 

"Yes,  sire,"  replied  Lorenzo,  confidently,  "he 
will  die  peaceably  and  in  his  bed." 

"  If  you  have  the  power  to  foretell  the  moment 
of  your  death,  why  do  you  not  know  the  result  of 
your  experiments?" 

Charles  glanced  at  Marie  Touchet  with  a  smile  of 
triumph. 

The  two  brothers  swiftly  exchanged  a  joyous 
glance. 

"He  is  interested  in  alchemy,"  they  thought; 
"  we  are  saved  !" 

"  Our  prognostics  rest  upon  the  present  condition 
of  the  relations  between  nature  and  man;  but  what 
we  are  striving  to  do  is  to  change  those  relations 
entirely." 

The  king  became  thoughtful. 

"  But  if  you  are  certain  of  dying,  you  are  certain 
of  your  failure,"  he  said. 

"  As  our  predecessors  were!"  rejoined  Lorenzo, 
raising  his  hand  and  letting  it  fall  again  with  a 
solemn  and  emphatic  gesture  proportioned  to  the 
grandeur  of  his  thought.  "  But  your  mind  has 
gone  at  one  leap  to  the  end  of  the  road;  we  must 
retrace  our  steps,  sire!  If  you  are  not  familiar  with 
the  ground  on  which  our  edifice  is  built,  you  may 
tell  us  that  it  will  crumble,  and  judge  the  science 
cultivated  from  century  to  century  by  the  greatest 
men  as  ordinary  men  judge  it." 


444  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

The  king  made  a  sign  of  assent. 

"  I  believe,  then,  that  this  earth  belongs  to  man, 
that  he  controls  it,  and  can  appropriate  all  its  forces, 
all  the  substances  of  which  it  consists.  Man  is  not 
a  creation  issuing  directly  from  God's  hands,  but  a 
consequence  of  the  elemental  principle  sown  in  the 
boundless  expanse  of  the  ether,  where  myriads  of 
creatures  are  produced,  differing  absolutely  in  the 
different  planets,  because  the  conditions  of  life  are 
different.  Yes,  sire,  the  subtle  motion  which  we  call 
life  takes  its  source  beyond  all  visible  worlds;  the 
different  creations  divide  it  up  among  themselves  at 
the  will  of  their  environments,  and  the  least  impor- 
tant creatures  participate  in  it,  taking  so  much  as 
they  are  able  to  take,  at  their  own  risk  and  peril; 
it  is  for  them  to  defend  themselves  against  death. 
Therein  lies  the  whole  secret  of  alchemy.  If  man, 
the  most  perfect  animal  on  this  globe,  bore  within 
himself  a  portion  of  God,  he  would  not  die,  but  he 
does  die.  To  avoid  this  difficulty,  Socrates  and  his 
school  invented  the  soul.  I,  the  successor  of  many 
unknown  kings  who  have  guided  the  destinies  of 
this  science,  I  am  for  the  old  theories  against  the 
new;  I  am  for  the  transformations  of  matter  which 
I  see  with  my  eyes  as  against  the  impossible  immor- 
tality of  a  soul  which  I  do  not  see.  I  do  not  recog- 
nize the  sphere  of  the  soul.  If  that  sphere  existed, 
the  substances  whose  marvellous  combination  pro- 
duces your  body,  and  which  are  so  beautiful  in 
madame,  would  not  be  resolved  after  your  death  to 
return  each  to  its  own  place,  water  to  water,  fire 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  445 

to  fire,  metal  to  metal,  just  as,  when  my  coal  is 
burned  out,  its  elements  have  returned  to  their 
original  molecules.  If  you  assert  that  something 
survives  us,  that  something  is  not  ourselves;  for 
everything  that  goes  to  make  up  the  actual  ego  per- 
ishes! Now,  it  is  this  actual  ego  which  I  seek  to 
continue  beyond  the  allotted  term  of  its  life;  I  seek 
to  prolong  the  duration  of  the  present  period  of 
transformation.  What!  do  you  say  that  trees  live 
centuries,  and  that  men  live  only  years,  when  the 
former  are  passive  and  the  latter  active!  when  the 
former  are  without  speech  or  motion,  and  the  others 
talk  and  move!  No  creation  here  on  earth  should 
be  superior  to  ours,  either  in  power  or  in  duration. 
Already  we  have  enlarged  the  scope  of  our  faculties, 
we  can  look  into  the  planets!  We  should  be  able 
to  extend  our  lives!  I  place  life  before  power.  Of 
what  use  is  power  if  life  escapes  us?  A  sensible  man 
should  have  no  other  occupation  than  to  discover,  not 
whether  there  is  another  life,  but  the  secret  upon 
which  his  present  life  depends,  in  order  that  he  may 
continue  it  at  his  pleasure.  That  is  the  quest  which 
is  whitening  my  hair;  but  I  march  on  fearlessly  in 
the  darkness,  leading  to  the  battle  the  minds  which 
share  my  faith.     Life  will  be  ours  some  day!" 

"  But  how?"  cried  the  king,  rising  abruptly. 

*'  As  it  is  the  first  condition  of  our  faith  to  believe 
that  the  world  belongs  to  man,  you  must  grant  me 
that  point,"  said  Lorenzo. 

"Very  well,  so  be  it!"  rejoined  the  impatient 
Charles  de  Valois,  fascinated  already. 


446  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  If  we  eliminate  God  from  this  world,  sire,  what 
remains?  Man!  Let  us  examine  our  domain.  The 
material  world  is  made  up  of  elements;  those  ele- 
ments are  themselves  made  up  of  principles.  Those 
principles  are  resolved  into  a  single  one  which  is 
endowed  with  motion.  The  number  THREE  is  the 
formula  of  creation:  matter,  motion,  product!" 
"  Stop  there!"  cried  the  king.  "  The  proof.?" 
"Do  you  not  see  its  effects.?"  replied  Lorenzo. 
**  We  have  subjected  to  the  heat  of  our  crucibles  the 
acorn  which  contains  the  germ  of  an  oak  as  well  as 
the  embryo  which  contains  the  germ  of  a  man;  from 
that  small  quantity  of  matter  came  forth  a  pure 
principle  to  which  some  force,  some  motion,  must  be 
joined.  In  default  of  a  creator,  must  not  that  princi- 
ple impose  upon  itself  the  successive  forms  which 
constitute  our  world  ?  for  this  phenomenon  of  life  is 
everywhere  the  same.  Yes,  in  metals  as  in  beings, 
in  plants  as  in  men,  life  begins  with  an  impercepti- 
ble germ  which  develops  itself.  There  is  a  primi- 
tive principle!  let  us  grasp  it  at  the  point  where  it 
acts  upon  itself,  where  it  is  a  unit,  where  it  is  really 
a  principle,  not  a  creature,  a  cause,  not  an  effect, — 
we  shall  see  it  by  itself,  formless,  ready  to  assume 
all  the  forms  which  we  see  it  assume  in  life.  When 
we  are  face  to  face  with  this  atom,  when  we  have 
surprised  motion  at  its  starting-point,  we  shall  know 
its  laws;  thenceforth,  being  able  to  impose  upon  it 
whatever  form  we  please  among  all  those  which  we 
see  it  assume,  we  shall  possess  gold  enough  to  buy 
the  world,  and  we  will  give  ourselves  centuries  of 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  447 

life  to  enjoy  it.  That  is  what  my  people  and  I  are 
seeking.  All  our  powers,  all  our  thoughts,  are  de- 
voted to  that  search,  nothing  can  turn  us  aside  from 
it.  An  hour  squandered  upon  any  other  passion 
would  be  a  theft  of  a  portion  of  our  greatness!  Just 
as  you  have  never  known  one  of  your  dogs  to  forget 
the  beast  and  the  quarry,  so  I  have  never  known 
one  of  my  patient  subjects  to  be  distracted  by  a 
woman  or  by  any  avaricious  motive.  If  the  adept 
craves  wealth  and  power,  that  craving  is  due  to  our 
needs:  he  grasps  a  fortune  as  the  thirsty  dog  laps 
up  a  drop  of  water  as  he  runs;  because  his  furnaces 
demand  a  diamond  to  melt  or  ingots  to  be  pulverized. 
To  every  man  his  own  work!  This  one  seeks  the 
secret  of  vegetable  life,  he  watches  the  slow  growth 
of  plants,  he  notes  the  parity  of  motion  in  all  species 
and  the  parity  of  nutrition;  he  finds  that  sunlight, 
air,  and  water  are  everywhere  necessary  to  fruc- 
tify and  nourish.  That  one  examines  the  blood  of 
animals.  Another  studies  the  laws  of  motion  in  gen- 
eral and  its  connection  with  the  revolution  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  Almost  all  persist  in  contending 
with  the  intractable  nature  of  metal:  for,  although 
we  find  several  elementary  principles  in  all  things, 
we  find  that  all  metals  resemble  one  another  in  their 
smallest  details.  Hence  the  common  error  concern- 
ing our  labors.  See  all  those  patient,  unwearying 
athletes,  always  conquered  and  always  returning  to 
the  conflict!  Mankind  is  behind  us,  sire!  as  the 
whipper-in  is  behind  your  pack.  It  cries  out  to  us: 
*  Hasten!    Omit  nothing!    Sacrifice  everything,  even 


448  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

a  man,  ye  who  sacrifice  yourselves!  Hasten!  Strike 
off  the  head  and  arm  of  DEATH,  my  enemy!' — Yes, 
sire!  we  are  inspired  by  a  sentiment  which  looks 
forward  to  the  welfare  of  generations  to  come.  We 
have  buried  a  vast  number  of  men — and  such  men! 
— who  have  died  in  this  quest.  When  we  embark 
upon  this  career,  we  may  not  be  working  for  our- 
selves; we  may  die  without  finding  the  secret!  and 
what  a  death  is  that  of  the  man  who  does  not  believe 
in  another  life!  We  are  glorious  martyrs,  we  have 
the  egotism  of  the  whole  race  in  our  hearts,  we  live 
in  our  successors.  As  we  go  forward,  we  discover 
secrets  with  which  we  endow  the  mechanical  and 
liberal  arts.  Our  furnaces  emit  gleams  of  light 
which  arm  societies  with  more  perfect  instruments 
of  industry.  Powder  came  forth  from  our  alembics, 
we  shall  overcome  the  lightning.  There  are  political 
revolutions  in  our  assiduous  vigils." 

"Can  it  be  possible.?"  cried  the  king,  rising  a 
second  time  from  his  chair. 

"Why  not.?"  said  the  grand  master  of  the  new 
Order  of  Templars.  "Tradidit  mundum  disputation- 
ibusl  God  has  abandoned  the  world  to  us!  Once 
more,  hear  what  I  say:  Man  is  master  here  below, 
and  all  matter  is  his.  All  forces,  all  instruments,  are 
at  his  disposal.  Who  created  us?  motion.  What 
power  keeps  life  in  us,?  motion.  Why  should  not 
science  grasp  the  secret  of  that  motion  ?  Nothing  on 
earth  is  lost,  nothing  escapes  from  our  planet  to  go 
elsewhere;  otherwise  the  stars  would  fall  one  upon 
another;  thus  the  waters  of  the  Flood  still  exist,  in 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  449 

their  elemental  principles,  and  not  a  single  drop  has 
vanished.  All  around  us,  below,  above,  are  the 
elements  whence  issued  the  innumerable  millions  of 
men  who  thronged  the  earth  before  and  after  the 
Flood.  What  do  we  seek?  to  grasp  the  force  which 
disunites;  at  the  same  stroke  we  shall  grasp  the 
force  which  reunites.  We  are  the  product  of  a 
visible  industry.  When  the  waters  covered  our 
globe,  there  came  forth  men  who  found  the  ele- 
ments of  their  life  in  the  envelope  of  the  earth,  in 
the  air,  and  in  their  food.  Therefore  earth  and  air 
contain  the  principle  of  human  transformations,  they 
take  place  before  our  eyes,  with  other  things  which 
are  before  our  eyes;  therefore  we  may  surprise  that 
secret,  not  restricting  the  search  to  the  life  of  a 
single  man,  but  extending  it,  so  far  as  its  duration 
is  concerned,  to  mankind  itself.  Thus  we  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  Matter,  in  which  I  be- 
lieve, and  which  I,  the  grand  master  of  the  Order, 
propose  to  penetrate.  Christopher  Columbus  gave 
a  world  to  the  King  of  Spain;  I  seek  an  immortal 
people  for  the  King  of  France!  Stationed  beyond 
the  most  distant  frontier  which  separates  us  from 
knowledge  of  Matter,  like  a  patient  observer  of 
molecular  movements,  I  destroy  forms,  I  shatter  the 
bonds  of  every  combination,  I  imitate  death  in  order 
that  I  may  imitate  life!  In  fine,  I  knock  incessantly 
at  the  door  of  creation  and  shall  continue  to  knock 
at  it  to  my  last  day.  When  I  am  dead,  the  knocker 
will  pass  into  other  hands  as  indefatigable,  just  as 
unknown  giants  handed  it  down  to  me.  Fabulous 
29 


450  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

images,  not  hitherto  understood,  like  those  of  Prome- 
theus, Ixion,  Adonis,  Pan,  etc.,  which  form  a  part  of 
the  religious  beliefs  of  all  countries,  in  all  ages,  inform 
us  that  this  hope  was  born  with  the  human  race. 
Chald^a,  India,  Persia,  Egypt,  Greece,  the  Moors, 
transmitted  to  one  another  Magism,  the  most  exalted 
of  the  occult  sciences,  which  holds  in  trust  the  fruit  of 
the  vigils  of  each  succeeding  generation.  Therein 
was  the  bond  of  the  grand  and  majestic  Order  of 
the  Temple.  When  one  of  your  ancestors,  sire, 
burned  the  Templars,  he  burned  only  the  men,  the 
secrets  remain  in  our  keeping.  The  rebuilding  of 
the  Temple  is  the  watchword  of  an  unknown  nation, 
races  of  fearless  investigators,  all  turned  toward  the 
Orient  of  life,  all  brethren,  all  inseparable,  united  by 
an  idea,  stamped  with  the  seal  of  toil.  I  am  the  sov- 
ereign of  that  people,  first  by  election  and  not  by 
birth.  I  guide  them  all  toward  the  essence  of  life! 
grand  master,  red-cross  knights,  companions,  nov- 
ices, one  and  all  we  follow  the  imperceptible  mole- 
cule which  shuns  our  crucibles,  which  eludes  our 
eyes;  but  we  will  make  for  ourselves  eyes  more 
powerful  than  those  nature  gave  us,  we  will  dis- 
cover the  primitive  atom,  the  elementary  corpuscle 
courageously  sought  by  all  the  sages  who  have  pre- 
ceded us  in  this  sublime  pursuit.  Sire,  when  a  man 
is  mounted  upon  that  abyss,  and  when  he  has  divers 
under  his  command  as  bold  as  my  brethren,  all  other 
human  interests  seem  very  trivial;  so  we  are  not 
dangerous.  Religious  disputes  and  political  discus- 
sions are  far  from  us,  we  are  far  above  all  such 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  451 

things.  When  one  is  contending  with  nature,  one 
does  not  descend  to  throttle  a  man  or  two.  More- 
over, every  result,  however  small,  is  fixed  and  deter- 
minable in  our  science;  we  can  measure  and  predict 
them  all;  whereas  everything  is  fluctuating  in  the 
combinations  into  which  men  and  their  interests  enter. 
We  will  subject  the  diamond  to  the  heat  of  our  cruci- 
ble, we  will  make  diamonds,  we  will  make  gold  !  We 
will  make  vessels  move  with  a  little  water  and  a  little 
fire,  as  one  of  our  brethren  did  at  Barcelona.  We 
will  do  without  the  wind,  we  will  make  the  wind, 
we  will  make  light,  we  will  transform  the  face  of 
empires  by  new  industries!  But  we  will  never  stoop 
to  mount  a  throne,  to  be  gehennaed  by  the  peoples!" 

Despite  his  determination  not  to  allow  himself  to 
be  deceived  by  Florentine  wiles,  the  king,  as  well 
as  his  innocent  mistress,  was  already  caught,  en- 
tangled in  the  folds  and  meshes  of  that  pompous 
charlatan's  loquacity.  The  eyes  of  the  lovers  at- 
tested the  dazzling  effect  of  all  that  mysterious 
wealth  spread  out  before  them;  they  seemed  to  see 
a  long  line  of  subterranean  caverns  full  of  gnomes 
at  work.  The  impatience  of  curiosity  dissipated  the 
unrest  of  suspicion. 

"Why,  in  that  case,"  cried  the  king,  "you  are 
great  statesmen,  who  can  give  us  light." 

"  No,  sire,"  said  Lorenzo,  artlessly. 

"  Why  not?"  demanded  the  king. 

"Sire,  it  is  given  to  no  mortal  to  foretell  what 
will  result  from  an  assemblage  of  some  millions  of 
men:  we  can  say  what  one  man  will  do,  how  long  he 


452  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

will  live,  whether  he  will  be  happy  or  unhappy; 
but  we  cannot  say  what  many  wills  combined  will 
effect,  and  it  is  even  more  difficult  to  calculate  the 
fluctuating  movements  of  their  interests,  for  inter- 
ests are  men  rather  than  things;  but  we  can,  in  soli- 
tude, perceive  the  greater  part  of  the  future.  The 
Protestantism  which  devours  you  will  be  devoured 
in  its  turn  by  its  own  material  consequences,  which 
will  become  theories  in  due  time.  Europe  is  giving 
its  attention  to  religion  to-day;  to-morrow,  it  will 
attack  royalty." 

"  The  Saint  Bartholomew,  then,  was  a  grand  con- 
ception.?" 

"Yes,  sire,  for  if  the  people  triumph,  they  will 
have  a  Saint  Bartholomew  of  their  own!  When 
religion  and  royalty  are  crushed,  the  people  will 
turn  upon  the  great;  after  the  great,  they  will  strike 
at  the  rich.  Finally,  when  Europe  is  no  longer 
aught  but  a  flock  of  men  without  cohesion,  because 
it  is  without  leaders,  it  will  be  consumed  by  vulgar 
conquerors.  Twenty  times  already  the  world  has 
presented  that  spectacle,  and  Europe  is  preparing 
to  present  it  once  more.  Ideas  devour  epochs  as 
men  are  devoured  by  their  passions.  When  man 
shall  be  cured,  it  may  be  that  mankind  will  be 
cured.  Science  is  the  soul  of  mankind,  we  are  its 
pontiffs;  and  he  who  gives  his  attention  to  the  soul 
cares  but  little  about  the  body." 

"  How  far  have  you  gone?"  asked  the  king. 

"  We  move  slowly,  but  we  lose  none  of  our  con- 
quests." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  453 

"So  you  are  the  king  of  sorcerers?"  said  the 
king,  piqued  to  find  himself  of  so  little  consequence 
before  that  man. 

The  imposing  grand  master  bestowed  upon  Charles 
a  flaming  glance  which  paralyzed  him. 

"You  are  king  of  men,  and  I  am  king  of  ideas," 
he  replied.  "Moreover,  if  there  were  real  sorcer- 
ers, you  would  have  been  unable  to  burn  them," 
he  replied,  with  a  touch  of  irony.  "  We  have  our 
martyrs,  too." 

"  But  how  can  you  cast  horoscopes?"  inquired 
the  king;  "  how  did  you  know  that  the  man  who 
stood  by  your  window  last  night  was  the  King  of 
France?  What  power  enabled  one  of  your  brethren 
to  tell  my  mother  the  destinies  of  her  three  sons? 
Can  you,  grand  master  of  the  order  which  seeks  to 
mould  the  world,  can  you  tell  me  what  the  queen, 
my  mother,  is  thinking  about  at  this  moment?" 

"Yes,  sire." 

That  answer  was  given  before  Cosmo  could  pull 
his  brother's  sleeve  to  bid  him  be  silent. 

"  Do  you  know  why  my  brother,  the  King  of 
Poland,  is  returning  to  France?" 

"Yes,  sire." 

"Why?" 

"  To  take  your  place." 

"  Our  nearest  kin  are  our  most  cruel  enemies!" 
cried  the  king,  springing  to  his  feet  in  a  rage  and 
pacing  the  room  with  long  strides.  "  Kings  have 
neither  brothers  nor  sons  nor  mother.  Coligny 
was  right;  my  executioners  are  not  the  Huguenot 


454  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

preachers,  they  are  in  the  Louvre!  You  are  impos- 
tors or  regicides! — Jacob,  call  Solern." 

"Sire,"  said  Marie  Touchet,  "the  Ruggieri  have 
your  word  as  a  gentleman.  You  desired  to  taste 
the  tree  of  science,  do  not  complain  of  its  bitter- 
ness." 

The  king  smiled  a  smile  of  bitter  scorn:  his  ma- 
terial royalty  seemed  to  him  a  pitiful  thing  in  face 
of  the  boundless  intellectual  royalty  of  old  Lorenzo 
Ruggieri.  Charles  could  hardly  govern  France;  the 
grand  master  of  the  red-cross  knights  governed  an 
intelligent  and  submissive  world. 

"Answer  me  frankly;  I  pledge  my  word  as  a  gen- 
tleman that  your  answer,  even  though  it  be  a  con- 
fession of  horrible  crimes,  shall  be  as  if  it  had  never 
been  uttered.     You  dabble  in  poisons?" 

"  In  order  to  know  what  gives  life,  surely  we 
must  know  what  causes  death." 

"  You  possess  the  secret  of  preparing  many 
poisons?" 

"Yes,  sire,  but  in  theory  only,  not  in  practice; 
we  know  them,  but  do  not  make  use  of  them." 

"  Has  my  mother  ever  asked  for  any?"  asked  the 
king,  breathlessly. 

"  Sire,"  replied  Lorenzo,  "  Queen  Catherine  is 
too  adroit  to  employ  such  methods.  She  knows 
that  the  king  or  queen  who  uses  poison  dies  by 
poison;  the  Borgias,  and  Bianca,  the  Grand  Duchess 
of  Tuscany,  are  notable  examples  of  the  dangers 
inherent  in  such  wretched  expedients.  Everything 
is  known  at  court.    You  can  kill  a  poor  devil  in  any 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  455 

way  you  choose,  and  what  is  the  use  of  poisoning 
him?  But  when  you  attack  persons  of  prominence, 
is  there  a  single  chance  of  secrecy  ?  The  shot  that 
killed  Coligny  could  have  been  fired  only  by  you, 
or  the  queen-mother,  or  the  Guises.  No  one  was 
deceived  as  to  that.  Believe  me,  one  cannot  use 
poison  twice  in  political  life  with  impunity.  Princes 
always  have  successors.  As  for  the  humble,  if, 
like  Luther,  they  become  sovereigns  by  virtue  of 
the  power  of  ideas,  one  does  not  kill  their  doctrines 
by  putting  the  men  out  of  the  way.  The  queen  is 
a  Florentine,  she  knows  that  poison  can  safely  be 
used  only  as  the  instrument  of  personal  vengeance. 
My  brother,  who  has  not  left  her  since  she  came  to 
France,  knows  how  much  chagrin  Madame  Diane 
caused  her;  she  never  dreamed  of  poisoning  her, 
although  she  might  have  done  it;  what  would  the 
king,  your  father,  have  said.?  and  yet,  had  she  done 
it,  she  would  have  acted  more  within  her  right  and 
with  absolute  certainty  of  impunity.  Madame  de 
Valentinois  still  lives." 

"And  what  of  the  pierced  images?"  rejoined  the 
king. 

"Sire,"  said  Cosmo,  "those  things  are  so  per- 
fectly innocent,  that  we  make  use  of  them  to  gratify 
blind  passions,  as  the  doctors  give  pills  made  of 
dough  to  imaginary  invalids.  A  desperate  woman 
believes  that  by  piercing  the  heart  of  an  image  she 
brings  misfortune  on  the  head  of  the  unfaithful 
swain  whom  it  represents.  What  would  you  have? 
they  are  our  taxes." 


456  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  The  Pope  sells  indulgences,"  remarked  Lorenzo, 
smiling. 

"  Has  my  mother  dealt  in  the  images?" 

"  Of  what  use  are  such  ridiculous  methods  to  one 
who  is  all-powerful?" 

"  Could  Queen  Catherine  save  you  at  this  mo- 
ment?" rejoined  the  king,  with  a  threatening  expres- 
sion. 

"Why,  we  are  in  no  danger,  sire,"  said  Lorenzo 
Ruggieri  tranquilly.  "  I  knew,  before  1  entered  this 
house,  that  I  should  go  from  it  safe  and  sound,  as 
well  as  I  know  how  ill-disposed  the  king  will  be  to- 
ward my  brother  a  few  days  hence;  but  if  he  be  in 
any  peril,  he  will  triumph  over  it.  If  the  king  reigns 
by  the  sword,  he  reigns  by  the  law  as  well!"  he 
added,  alluding  to  the  celebrated  device  on  a  medal 
struck  for  Charles  IX. 

"You  know  everything,  I  shall  die  soon,  that  is 
all  very  well,"  said  the  king,  concealing  his  anger 
beneath  a  feverish  impatience ;  "  but  how  will 
my  brother  die,  who,  as  you  say,  is  to  be  King 
Henri  111.?" 

"A  violent  death." 

"And  Monsieur  d'Alenfon?" 

"  He  will  not  reign." 

"  Will  Henri  de  Bourbon  reign?" 

"Yes,  sire." 

"  And  how  will  he  die?" 

"  A  violent  death." 

"  And  when  I  am  dead,  what  will  become  of  ma- 
dame?"  asked  the  king,  indicating  Marie  Touchet. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  457 

**  Madame  de  Belleville  will  marry,  sire." 

"You  are  impostors! — Send  them  away,  sire," 
said  Marie. 

"  My  love,  the  Ruggieri  have  my  word  as  a  gen- 
tleman," said  the  king,  with  a  smile. — "Will  Marie 
have  children?" 

"Yes,  sire,  madame  will  live  to  be  more  than 
eighty." 

"Shall  we  have  them  hanged?"  the  king  asked 
his  mistress. — "  And  what  of  my  son  the  Comte 
d'Auvergne?"  he  added,  going  to  fetch  him. 

"  Why  did  you  tell  him  that  I  should  marry?" 
Marie  Touchet  asked  the  brothers  during  the  brief 
moment  that  they  were  alone. 

"  Madame,"  replied  Lorenzo,  with  dignity,  "the 
king  ordered  us  to  tell  the  truth,  and  we  are  doing 
so." 

"  Is  it  true,  then?"  said  she. 

"  As  true  as  it  is  that  the  Governor  of  Orleans 
loves  you  to  distraction." 

"  But  1  do  not  love  him!"  she  cried. 

"  Very  true,  madame,"  said  Lorenzo;  "  but  your 
horoscope  declares  that  you  will  marry  the  man  who 
loves  you  at  this  moment." 

"  Can  you  not  lie  a  little  for  my  sake?"  she  said, 
smiling,  "for  suppose  the  king  should  believe  your 
predictions!" 

"Is  it  not  necessary,  too,  that  he  believe  in  our 
innocence?"  said  Cosmo,  with  a  shrewd  glance  at 
the  favorite.  "  The  precautions  taken  by  the  king 
in  our  regard  have  caused  us  to  conclude,  while  we 


458  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

have  been  confined  in  this  pretty  little  jail  of  yours, 
that  the  occult  sciences  have  been  slandered  to 
him." 

"  Never  fear,"  replied  Marie,  "  I  know  him  well, 
and  his  suspicions  have  vanished." 

"  We  are  innocent,"  said  the  tall  old  man,  proudly. 

"So  much  the  better,"  said  Marie,  "for  the  king 
is  having  your  laboratory,  your  crucibles,  and  your 
phials  examined  by  experts  at  this  moment." 

The  brothers  glanced  at  each  other  with  a  smile. 

Marie  Touchet  mistook  for  amused  innocence  that 
smile,  which  really  meant:  "  Poor  fools,  do  you 
suppose  that,  if  we  make  poisons,  we  do  not  know 
where  to  hide  them?" 

"  Where  are  the  king's  people?"  inquired  Cosmo. 

"At  Rene's  house,"  Marie  replied. 

Cosmo  and  Lorenzo  again  exchanged  glances  which 
conveyed  the  same  thought:  "  The  H6tel  de  Soissons 
is  inviolable!" 

The  king  had  so  entirely  forgotten  his  suspicions, 
that,  when  he  went  to  fetch  his  son,  and  Jacob 
stopped  him  to  hand  him  a  note  sent  by  Chapelain, 
he  opened  it  with  a  feeling  of  absolute  certainty  that 
he  should  find  in  it  what  he  actually  did  find  con- 
cerning the  examination  of  the  laboratory;  his 
physician  wrote  that  they  found  nothing  except 
materials  and  appliances  used  in  alchemy. 

"Will  his  life  be  a  happy  one?"  said  the  king, 
exhibiting  his  son  to  the  two  alchemists. 

"  That  is  for  Cosmo  to  say,"  said  Lorenzo,  look- 
ing toward  his  brother. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  459 

Cosmo  took  the  child's  little  hand  and  examined 
it  very  carefully. 

"Monsieur,"  said  Charles  to  the  old  man,  "if 
you  find  it  necessary  to  deny  the  existence  of  the 
spirit  in  order  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  your 
undertaking,  explain  to  me  how  you  can  doubt  that 
which  constitutes  your  power.  The  thought  which 
you  seek  to  annul  is  the  torch  which  furnishes  light 
for  your  investigations.  Ah!  is  it  not  as  if  you  were 
to  deny  motion  even  while  you  are  moving.'"'  cried 
the  king,  who  was  well-pleased  that  he  had  thought 
of  that  argument,  and  glanced  triumphantly  at  his 
mistress. 

"  Thought,"  replied  Lorenzo  Ruggieri,  "  is  the  ex- 
ercise of  an  inward  sense,  as  the  faculty  of  seeing 
several  objects  and  discerning  their  dimensions  and 
their  color  is  a  result  of  the  sense  of  sight.  That 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  claims  that  are  made  con- 
cerning another  life.  Thought  is  a  faculty  which 
ceases  even  in  our  lifetime  with  the  forces  which 
produce  it." 

"You  are  logical,"  said  the  king,  in  amazement. 
"  But  alchemy  is  an  atheistical  science." 

"  Materialistic,  sire,  which  is  a  very  different 
matter.  Materialism  is  the  outcome  of  the  Indian 
doctrines  transmitted  through  the  mysteries  of  Isis 
to  Chaldasa  and  Egypt,  and  brought  to  Greece  by 
Pythagoras,  one  of  the  demi-gods  of  mankind:  his 
doctrine  of  transformations  is  the  mathematics  of  ma- 
terialism, the  living  law  of  its  phases.  To  each  of 
the  different  creations  which  compose  the  terrestrial 


460  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

creation  belongs  the  power  of  retarding  the  move- 
ment which  carries  it  onward  into  another." 

"Then  alchemy  is  the  science  of  sciences!"  ex- 
claimed Charles,  enthusiastically.  "  I  long  to  see 
you  at  work." 

"Whenever  you  please,  sire;  you  will  be  no  more 
impatient  than  the  queen,  your  mother — " 

"Oh!  so  that  is  why  she  is  so  fond  of  you!" 
exclaimed  the  king. 

"  The  House  of  Medici  has  secretly  encouraged 
our  investigations  for  more  than  a  century." 

"Sire,"  said  Cosmo,  "this  child  will  live  nearly 
a  hundred  years;  he  will  have  his  trials,  but  he  will 
be  happy  and  held  in  honor,  as  having  in  his  veins 
the  blood  of  the  Valois." 

*'  I  will  go  to  visit  you,  messieurs,"  said  the  king, 
once  more  in  a  good  humor.     "  You  may  go." 

The  two  brothers  saluted  Marie  and  Charles  IX., 
and  retired.  They  descended  the  stairs  with  solemn 
faces,  not  looking  at  each  other  or  speaking;  they 
did  not  even  turn  to  look  at  the  windows  when 
they  were  in  the  courtyard,  feeling  certain  that  the 
king's  eye  was  watching  them:  in  fact,  they  did 
catch  a  glimpse  of  Charles  at  the  window  when 
they  turned  sidewise  to  pass  through  the  street- 
gate.  When  they  were  on  Rue  de  I'Autruche  they 
looked  in  front  and  behind  to  see  whether  they  were 
followed  or  awaited;  they  went  as  far  as  the  moats 
of  the  Louvre  without  uttering  a  word;  but  at  that 
point,  finding  that  they  were  alone,  Lorenzo  said  to 
Cosmo,  in  the  Florentine  of  that  period: 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  461 

**Affe  d'Iddio!  como  le  ahhiamo  infinocchiato !  " — 
Pardieu!  how  we  did  gull  him! — 

"Gran  merces!  a  lui  sta  di  spartojarsi," — Much 
good  may  it  do  him!  it  is  for  him  to  get  himself  out  of 
the  mire, — said  Cosmo.  "  We  have  done  the  queen 
a  good  turn;  I  trust  she  will  do  as  much  for  me!" 

Some  days  after  this  scene,  which  impressed 
Marie  Touchet  as  much  as  the  king,  during  one  of 
those  moments  when  the  mind  is  in  some  sort  set 
free  from  the  body  by  plenitude  of  pleasure,  Marie 
cried: 

"  Charles,  I  can  understand  Lorenzo  Ruggieri,  but 
Cosmo  said  nothing  at  all." 

"  True,"  said  the  king,  surprised  by  that  sudden 
gleam;  "there  was  as  much  falsehood  as  truth  in 
their  discourse.  Those  Italians  are  as  supple  as  the 
silk  they  make." 

This  suspicion  explains  the  animosity  which  the 
king  manifested  toward  Cosmo  at  the  time  of  the  trial 
of  the  participants  in  the  La  Mole  and  Coconnas  con- 
spiracy: finding  that  Cosmo  was  one  of  the  artisans 
of  that  enterprise,  he  believed  that  he  had  been 
fooled  by  the  two  Italians,  for  it  was  demonstrated 
to  him  that  his  mother's  astrologer  did  not  devote 
his  attention  exclusively  to  the  stars,  the  powder  of 
projection,  and  the  elementary  atom.  Lorenzo  had 
left  the  kingdom. 

Notwithstanding  the  incredulity  of  a  vast  number 
of  people  on  this  subject,  the  events  which  followed 
that  scene  confirmed  the  prophecies  made  by  the 
Ruggieri.     The  king  died  three  months  later. 


462  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

The  Comte  de  Gondi  followed  Charles  IX.  to  the 
grave,  as  his  brother,  the  Marechal  de  Retz,  had 
predicted,  the  latter  being  a  friend  of  the  Ruggieri 
and  a  believer  in  their  prognostications. 

Marie  Touchet  married  Charles  de  Balzac,  Mar- 
quis d'Entragues,  Governor  of  Orleans,  by  whom 
she  had  two  daughters.  The  more  celebrated  of  those 
daughters,  half-sister  to  the  Comte  d'Auvergne,  was 
Henri  IV. 's  mistress,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Biron 
conspiracy  tried  to  place  her  brother  on  the  throne 
of  France  and  expel  the  House  of  Bourbon. 

The  Comte  d'Auvergne,  become  Due  d'Angou- 
l§me,  lived  to  see  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  He  coined 
money  on  his  estates,  and  altered  the  legends  on  the 
coins,  but  Louis  XIV.  allowed  him  to  do  as  he  chose, 
such  great  respect  had  he  for  the  blood  of  the  Valois. 

Cosmo  Ruggieri  lived  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.; 
he  saw  the  downfall  of  the  Medici  in  France,  and 
the  downfall  of  the  Concini.  History  has  been  at 
great  pains  to  record  that  he  died  an  atheist,  that  is 
to  say,  a  materialist. 

The  Marquise  d'Entragues  lived  more  than  eighty 
years. 

The  famous  Comte  de  Saint-Germain,  who  caused 
so  much  excitement  under  Louis  XIV.,  was  a  pupil 
of  Cosmo  and  Lorenzo.  That  famous  alchemist  was 
no  less  than  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  old,  the 
age  which  some  biographers  assign  to  Marion  De- 
lorme.  The  count  must  have  learned  from  the 
Ruggieri  the  anecdotes  concerning  the  Saint  Bar- 
tholomew and  the  reigns  of  the  Valois,  in  which  he 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  463 

was  pleased  to  ascribe  a  prominent  part  to  himself, 
always  telling  them  in  the  first  person.  The  Comte 
de  Saint-Germain  was  the  last  of  the  alchemists 
who  really  understood  that  science;  but  he  left  no 
writings  behind  him.  The  cabalistic  doctrine  set 
forth  in  this  Study  is  derived  from  that  mysterious 
individual. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  the  lives  of  three  men — 
the  old  man  to  whom  I  owe  this  information,  the 
Comte  de  Saint-Germain,  and  Cosmo  Ruggieri — 
embrace  European  history  from  Francois  I.  to  Na- 
poleon. Only  fifty  such  lives  would  be  required  to 
carry  us  back  to  the  earliest  known  period  of  the 
world's  history. — "  What  are  fifty  generations  for 
the  study  of  the  mysteries  of  life?"  said  the  Comte 
de  Saint-Germain. 

Paris,  November-December  1836. 


PART  THIRD 


30 


THE   TWO   DREAMS 

Bodard  de  Saint-James,  Treasurer  of  the  Navy, 
aroused  more  attention  and  caused  more  gossip  by 
his  luxurious  mode  of  life,  than  any  other  financier 
in  Paris  in  the  year  1786.  About  that  time,  he  built 
his  famous  Folly  at  Neuilly,  and  his  wife  purchased, 
to  crown  the  canopy  of  her  bed,  an  ornament  made 
of  feathers,  the  price  of  which  had  horrified  the 
queen.  It  was  much  easier  then  than  it  is  to-day  to 
force  one's  self  into  social  prominence  and  to  make 
all  Paris  talk  about  one;  often  nothing  more  was 
needed  than  a  bright  remark  or  a  woman's  whim. 

Bodard  owned  the  superb  mansion  on  Place  Ven- 
dome  which  the  farmer-general  Dange  had,  shortly 
before,  been  compelled  to  leave.  That  illustrious 
epicurean  died,  and  on  the  day  of  his  funeral. 
Monsieur  de  Bi^vre,  his  intimate  friend,  laughingly 
made  the  remark  that  now  one  could  pass  through 
Place  Vendome  without  danger.  This  allusion  to  the 
house  of  the  defunct  as  a  gambling-hell  was  his  only 
funeral  oration.  The  house  is  the  one  facing  the 
Chancellerie. 

To  complete  Bodard's  history  in  a  few  words — he 
was  a  poor  man,  he  failed  for  fourteen  millions  just 
after  the  failure  of  the  Prince  de  Guemenee.  The 
(467) 


468  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

stupidity  of  which  he  was  guilty  in  not  anticipating 
the  most  serene  bankruptcy,  to  use  Lebrun-Pindare's 
phrase,  was  the  reason  why  his  name  was  never 
mentioned.  He  died,  like  Bourvalais,  Bouret,  and 
many  others,  in  a  garret. 

It  was  Madame  de  Saint- James's  ambition  to  re- 
ceive none  but  people  of  quality, — an  old  absurdity, 
constantly  renewed.  To  her  mind,  even  the  caps  of 
counsellors  in  Parliament  were  of  little  consequence; 
she  wished  to  see  in  her  salons  titled  personages 
who  had  at  least  the  grande  entree  at  Versailles. 
To  say  that  many  blue  ribbons  called  upon  the 
financier's  wife  would  be  to  say  what  is  not  true; 
but  it  is  very  certain  that  she  had  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining the  goodwill  and  favorable  notice  of  some 
members  of  the  Rohan  family,  as  the  too  notorious 
affair  of  the  Diamond  Necklace  proved. 

One  evening,  it  was  in  August,  1786,  I  believe,  I 
was  very  much  surprised  to  see  in  the  salon  of  that 
treasurer's  wife,  who  was  such  a  prude  in  the  matter 
of  proofs  of  respectability,  two  strange  faces  which 
seemed  to  me  of  a  decidedly  inferior  type.  The 
hostess  came  to  me  in  a  window-recess  in  which  I 
had  designedly  ensconced  myself. 

"  Tell  me,"  I  said,  with  a  questioning  glance  in 
the  direction  of  one  of  the  strangers,  "  what  sort  of 
a  creature  is  that?  How  do  you  happen  to  have  such 
people  at  your  house?" 

"  He  is  a  charming  man." 

"  Do  you  see  him  through  the  spectacles  of  love, 
or  am  I  mistaken?" 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  469 

"You  are  not  mistaken,"  she  said,  with  a  laugh, 
**  he  is  as  ugly  as  a  caterpillar;  but  he  has  done  me 
the  most  important  service  that  a  woman  can  receive 
from  a  man." 

As  I  gazed  at  her  mischievously,  she  hastened  to 
add: 

"  He  has  completely  cured  me  of  those  horrible 
blotches  which  marred  my  complexion  and  made  me 
resemble  a  peasant." 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders  angrily. 

"  He's  a  quack,"  I  cried. 

*'  No,"  she  replied,  "  he  is  the  pages'  surgeon;  he 
has  a  pretty  wit,  I  promise  you,  and  he  writes  too. 
He  is  very  strong  in  physics." 

"  If  his  style  resembles  his  face!"  I  retorted,  with 
a  smile.     "  But  what  about  the  other?" 

"Whom  do  you  mean  by  the  other.'" 

"  That  smug,  spruce  little  coxcomb,  who  looks  as 
if  he  had  been  drinking  verjuice!" 

"Why,  he  belongs  to  a  very  good  family,"  she 
replied.  "  He  comes  from  some  province  or  other — 
oh!  yes,  Artois;  he  is  entrusted  with  the  settlement 
of  a  matter  in  which  the  cardinal  is  interested,  and 
His  Eminence  came  in  person  to  introduce  him  to 
Monsieur  de  Saint- James.  They  both  selected  Saint- 
James  for  arbitrator.  In  that  respect,  the  provincial 
exhibited  no  great  wit;  but  who  can  the  people  be 
who  are  foolish  enough  to  entrust  a  lawsuit  to  that 
fellow?  He's  as  mild  as  a  sheep  and  as  shy  as  a 
girl;  His  Eminence  is  very  kindly  disposed  to  him." 

"What  is  it  all  about?" 


470  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  Three  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"Why,  is  he  an  advocate?"  1  exclaimed,  with  a 
slight  start. 

"Yes,"  she  said. 

Overwhelmed  with  confusion  by  that  humiliating 
admission,  Madame  Bodard  returned  to  her  place  at 
the  faro-table. 

All  the  tables  were  full.  I  had  nothing  to  do,  no 
one  to  talk  to;  I  had  just  lost  two  thousand  crowns 
to  M.  de  Laval,  whom  I  had  met  at  the  house  of  an 
impure  person.  I  threw  myself  into  an  easy-chair 
near  the  fireplace.  If  there  ever  was  a  surprised 
man  on  this  earth,  it  certainly  was  myself,  when 
I  saw  opposite  me,  on  the  other  side  of  the  fire- 
place, the  controller-general.  M.  de  Calonne  seemed 
drowsy,  or  else  he  was  buried  in  one  of  those  fits  of 
meditation  which  tyrannize  over  statesmen.  When 
I  called  the  attention  of  Beaumarchais,  who  was 
walking  toward  me,  to  the  minister,  the  father  of 
Figaro  explained  the  mystery  without  speaking. 
He  pointed  first  to  my  own  head  and  then  to  Bo- 
dard's  with  a  mischievous  gesture,  which  consisted 
in  holding  out  his  hand  with  two  fingers  separated 
and  the  rest  closed.  My  first  impulse  was  to  rise 
and  go  and  make  some  cutting  remark  to  Calonne; 
but  I  retained  my  seat:  in  the  first  place,  because  I 
was  contemplating  playing  a  trick  on  that  favorite; 
and  in  the  second  place,  because  Beaumarchais  took 
my  hand  in  familiar  fashion. 

"What  do  you  want,  monsieur?"  I  said. 

He  winked  in  the  direction  of  the  controller. 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  47I 

"Don't  wake  him,"  he  whispered,  "we  are  too 
lucky  when  he's  asleep." 

"  But  sleep  means  another  financial  scheme,"  I 
rejoined. 

"  Certainly,"  observed  the  statesman,  who  had 
divined  our  words  simply  by  the  movement  of  our 
lips;  "  and  if  it  should  please  God  that  we  sleep  a 
long  while,  there  would  not  be  the  awakening  which 
you  will  see!" 

"  Monseigneur,"  said  the  dramatist,  "  I  have  to 
thank  you." 

"For  what.?" 

"  Monsieur  de  Mirabeau  has  started  for  Berlin. 
I  do  not  know  that  we  might  not  both  have  been 
drowned  in  that  affair  of  the  Waters." 

"  You  have  too  much  memory  and  too  little  grati- 
tude," retorted  the  minister,  dryly,  annoyed  to  have 
one  of  his  secrets  revealed  before  me. 

"That  is  possible,"  said  Beaumarchais,  stung  to 
the  quick,  "  but  I  have  millions  which  will  adjust 
many  accounts." 

Calonne  pretended  not  to  hear. 

It  was  half-past  twelve  when  play  ceased.  We 
took  our  places  at  table.  There  were  ten  of  us: 
Bodard  and  his  wife,  the  controller-general,  Beau- 
marchais, the  two  strangers,  two  pretty  women 
whose  names  may  not  be  mentioned,  and  a  farmer- 
general  whose  name,  I  believe,  was  Lavoisier.  Of 
thirty  persons  whom  I  found  in  the  salon  when  I 
arrived,  only  those  ten  remained.  Even  the  two 
creatures   consented   to   sup   with   us  only   at  the 


472  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

urgent  entreaty  of  Madame  de  Saint- James,  who 
thought  that  she  paid  her  debt  to  one  by  feeding 
him,  and  perhaps  invited  the  other  to  please  her 
husband,  with  whom  she  was  inclined  to  be  coquet- 
tish, I  cannot  quite  say  why.  After  all,  Monsieur 
de  Calonne  was  a  power,  and  if  anyone  had  occa- 
sion to  be  annoyed,  it  was  myself. 

The  supper  began  by  being  horribly  dreary. 
Those  two  strangers  and  the  farmer-general  em- 
barrassed us.  I  motioned  to  Beaumarchais  to  ply 
with  drink  the  son  of  iCsculapius  whom  he  had  at 
his  right,  giving  him  to  understand  that  I  would  do 
as  much  for  the  lawyer.  As  that  was  the  only 
means  we  had  of  amusing  ourselves,  and  as  it  gave 
promise  of  impertinences  on  the  part  of  the  two 
men,  which  amused  us  in  anticipation.  Monsieur  de 
Calonne  approved  my  plan.  In  two  seconds,  the 
three  ladies  joined  our  bacchanalian  conspiracy. 
They  promised,  by  most  significant  glances,  to 
play  their  part,  and  the  Sillery  filled  the  glasses 
more  than  once  with  its  silvery  foam.  The  sur- 
geon was  an  easy  victim;  but  when  I  attempted  to 
pour  a  second  bumper  for  my  neighbor,  he  said, 
with  the  cool  politeness  of  a  money-lender,  that  he 
would  not  drink  any  more. 

At  that  moment,  by  some  chance  or  other,  Ma- 
dame de  Saint- James  had  introduced  the  subject  of 
the  magnificent  suppers  given  by  the  Cardinal  de 
Rohan  to  Count  Cagliostro.  1  was  paying  no  spe- 
cial attention  to  what  the  mistress  of  the  house 
said;  for,  since  her  replies  to  my  questions,  I  had 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  473 

been  watching  with  unconquerable  curiosity  the 
pinched,  sallow  face  of  my  neighbor,  whose  most 
prominent  feature  was  a  nose,  turned  up  and  pointed 
at  the  same  time,  which  made  him  at  times  resem- 
ble a  weasel.  Suddenly  his  cheeks  flushed  as  he 
heard  Madame  de  Saint- James  disputing  with  Mon- 
sieur de  Calonne. 

"  But  I  assure  you,  monsieur,  that  I  have  seen 
Queen  Cleopatra,"  she  was  saying  with  an  impe- 
rious air. 

"  I  believe  you,  madame,"  interposed  my  neigh- 
bor. "  I  myself  have  spoken  to  Catherine  de* 
Medici." 

"  Oho!"  exclaimed  Monsieur  de  Calonne. 

The  little  provincial  said  the  words  in  a  voice 
which  had  an  indefinable  sonorous  quality,  if  we 
may  borrow  that  term  from  the  vocabulary  of  phys- 
ical science.  That  sudden  bell-like  utterance  from 
a  man  who  had  hardly  spoken  hitherto,  and  always 
in  a  low  and  pleasantly  modulated  tone,  surprised 
us  to  the  last  degree. 

"  Why,  he  is  talking!"  cried  the  surgeon,  who  was 
in  a  very  satisfactory  condition,  thanks  to  Beaumar- 
chais's  efforts. 

"  His  neighbor  must  have  pressed  a  spring," 
observed  the  satirist. 

My  man  flushed  slightly  when  he  heard  the  words, 
although  they  were  spoken  hardly  above  a  whisper. 

"And  how  was  the  late  queen?"  queried  Calonne. 

"  I  would  not  assert  positively  that  the  person 
with  whom  I  supped  last  night  was  Catherine  de' 


474  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Medici  herself.  Such  a  prodigy  will  justly  seem 
impossible  to  a  Christian  as  well  as  to  a  philoso- 
pher," replied  the  advocate,  resting  the  tips  of  his 
fingers  lightly  on  the  table  and  leaning  back  in  his 
chair  as  if  he  proposed  to  speak  at  some  length. 
"  Nevertheless,  I  am  able  to  swear  that  the  woman 
resembled  Catherine  de'  Medici  as  closely  as  if  she 
were  her  sister.  She  whom  I  saw  wore  a  black 
velvet  dress  absolutely  like  the  one  which  that 
queen  wears  in  the  portrait  owned  by  the  king; 
her  head  was  covered  with  the  characteristic  velvet 
cap;  and,  finally,  she  had  the  pale  complexion  and 
the  features  with  which  you  are  all  familiar.  I 
could  not  refrain  from  exhibiting  my  surprise  to  His 
Eminence.  The  rapidity  of  the  evocation  seemed 
to  me  the  more  marvellous,  because  Count  Cagli- 
ostro  could  not  have  guessed  the  name  of  the 
personage  with  whom  I  was  about  to  desire  an 
interview.  I  was  confounded.  The  magic  of  the 
spectacle  presented  by  a  supper-table  at  which  were 
seated  famous  women  of  the  past  deprived  me  of 
all  presence  of  mind.  I  listened,  afraid  to  ask  ques- 
tions. When  I  escaped  from  the  meshes  of  that 
witchcraft,  about  midnight,  I  almost  doubted  myself. 
But  all  that  marvellous  experience  seemed  to  me 
perfectly  natural  in  comparison  with  the  hallucina- 
tion I  was  still  to  undergo.  I  do  not  know  how  I 
can  describe  in  words  the  condition  of  my  senses. 
But  I  declare,  in  all  the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  that 
I  am  no  longer  surprised  that  there  should  be  found 
of  old  minds  weak  enough,  or  strong  enough,  to 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  475 

believe  in  the  mysteries  of  magic  and  the  power  of 
the  devil.  For  my  own  part,  until  I  am  more  fully 
informed,  I  regard  as  possible  the  apparitions  de- 
scribed by  Cardan  and  other  thaumaturgists." 

These  words,  uttered  with  incredible  force  of 
diction,  were  of  a  nature  to  arouse  the  most  intense 
curiosity  in  all  the  guests.  So  our  eyes  all  turned 
toward  the  speaker,  and  we  sat  very  still.  Our 
eyes  alone  betrayed  the  presence  of  life  by  reflect- 
ing the  flickering  light  of  the  candles  in  the  candela- 
bra. By  dint  of  gazing  steadfastly  at  the  stranger, 
it  seemed  as  if  we  could  see  the  pores  of  his  face, 
especially  those  of  his  forehead,  exude  the  inward 
emotion  which  agitated  him.  Apparently  cold  and 
precise,  he  seemed  to  contain  a  concealed  fire,  whose 
flame  reacted  upon  us. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  continued,  "  whether  the 
face  that  had  been  evoked  made  itself  invisible  and 
followed  me;  but  as  soon  as  I  laid  my  head  upon  my 
pillow,  I  saw  Catherine's  tall  figure  standing  before 
me.  I  felt  instinctively  that  1  was  in  a  luminous 
sphere,  for  my  eyes,  which  were  fastened  upon  the 
queen  with  painful  fixity,  saw  nothing  but  her. 
Suddenly  she  leaned  toward  me — " 

At  these  words,  the  ladies  with  one  accord  made  a 
gesture  of  interest. 

"  But  I  am  not  sure  that  I  ought  to  go  on,"  con- 
tinued the  advocate;  "  although  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  it  was  only  a  dream,  what  I  still  have 
to  tell  is  very  serious." 

"  Is  it  a  question  of  religion.?" asked  Beaumarchais. 


476  CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI 

"Or  is  there  something  improper  in  it?"  said 
Calonne.     "The  ladies  will  forgive  you." 

"  It  is  a  question  of  government,"  replied  the 
advocate. 

"Go  on,"  remarked  the  minister,  "Voltaire,  Di- 
derot, and  their  like  have  trained  our  ears  pretty 
thoroughly." 

He  became  very  attentive,  and  his  neighbor, 
Madame  de  Genlis,  very  much  preoccupied.  The 
provincial  still  hesitated.  Thereupon  Beaumarchais 
said  to  him,  sharply: 

"  Pray,  go  on,  master!  don't  you  know  that  when 
the  laws  allow  so  little  liberty,  the  people  take  their 
revenge  in  morals?" 

Thereupon  our  fellow-guest  began: 

"Whether  it  was  that  certain  ideas  were  fer- 
menting in  my  mind,  unknown  to  me,  or  that  I  was 
impelled  by  some  external  power,  I  said  to  her: 

"  '  Ah !  madame,  you  committed  a  very  grave 
crime!' 

"  '  What  was  that?'  she  asked,  in  a  grave  tone. 

"  *  The  crime  for  which  the  signal  was  given  by 
the  bell  on  the  Palais  de  Justice,  on  the  24th  of 
August.' 

"  She  smiled  scornfully,  and  several  deep  wrin- 
kles appeared  on  her  pallid  cheeks. 

"  '  Do  you  call  that  a  crime?'  she  rejoined;  '  that 
was  only  a  misfortune.  The  undertaking,  which 
was  poorly  managed,  having  missed  its  aim,  did  not 
result  in  the  benefit  which  we  expected  for  France, 
Europe,  and  the  Catholic  Church.   What  would  you 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  477 

have!  our  orders  were  imperfectly  obeyed.  We 
could  not  find  as  many  Montlucs  as  we  needed. 
Posterity  will  not  hold  us  responsible  for  the  lack  of 
communications  which  prevented  us  from  imparting 
to  our  undertaking  that  unity  of  action  which  is 
essential  to  great  coups  d'Etat:  there  was  the  mis- 
fortune! If,  on  the  25th  of  August,  not  the  shadow 
of  a  Huguenot  had  remained  in  France,  my  name 
would  have  been  handed  down  to  the  most  distant 
future  ages  as  that  of  a  lovely  image  of  Providence. 
How  often  did  the  perspicacious  minds  of  Sixtus  V., 
Richelieu,  and  Bossuet  secretly  blame  me  for  failing 
in  my  undertaking  after  daring  to  conceive  it!  And 
what  sincere  regret  was  felt  for  my  death!  Thirty 
years  after  the  Saint  Bartholomew,  the  disease  still 
endured;  it  had  already  caused  ten  times  more  noble 
blood  to  flow  than  remained  to  be  shed  on  August 
26,  1572.  The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
in  honor  of  which  you  caused  medals  to  be  struck, 
cost  more  tears,  more  blood,  and  more  money,  did 
more  to  kill  prosperity  in  France,  than  three  Saint 
Bartholomews.  Letellier  was  able  to  carry  out  with 
a  penful  of  ink  the  decree  which  the  throne  had 
secretly  promulgated  since  my  death;  but  if  that 
far-reaching  execution  was  necessary  on  the  25th  of 
August,  1572,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1685,  it  was 
useless.  Under  Henri  de  Valois's  second  son,  heresy 
was  hardly  pregnant;  under  Henri  de  Bourbon's 
second  son,  that  teeming  mother  had  cast  her  spawn 
over  the  whole  universe.  You  accuse  me  of  a  crime 
and  you  erect  statues  to  the  son  of  Anne  of  Austria! 


478  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

Yet  he  and  I  tried  to  accomplish  the  same  thing:  he 
succeeded,  1  failed;  but  Louis  XIV.  found  the  Prot- 
estants unarmed,  whereas  in  my  reign  they  had 
powerful  armies,  statesmen,  generals,  and  Germany 
on  their  side.' 

*'  I  felt  a  sort  of  inward  thrill  creep  over  me  as 
she  spoke  thus,  slowly  and  distinctly.  I  fancied 
that  I  was  breathing  the  fumes  of  the  blood  of 
Heaven  knows  how  many  victims.  Catherine  had 
increased  in  stature.  She  was  like  an  evil  spirit, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  she  was  trying  to  force  her 
way  into  my  conscience,  in  search  of  repose." 

"  He  dreamed  that,"  said  Beaumarchais,  in  an 
undertone;  "he  certainly  did  not  invent  it." 

'* '  My  brain  is  bewildered,'  I  said  to  the  queen. 
*  You  applaud  yourself  for  an  act  which  three  gen- 
erations condemn,  stigmatize  as  a  crime,  and — ' 

"'Say  further,'  she  interposed,  'that  all  subse- 
quent pens  have  been  even  more  unjust  to  me  than 
my  contemporaries  were.  No  one  has  undertaken  my 
defence.  I  am  accused  of  ambition,  I,  a  sovereign, 
and  rich  beyond  desire.  I  am  accused  of  cruelty,  I, 
who  have  upon  my  conscience  the  cutting  off  of  only 
two  heads.  And  even  to  the  most  impartial  minds 
I  am  still  a  puzzling  problem.  Do  you  imagine, 
forsooth,  that  I  was  swayed  by  feelings  of  hatred, 
that  I  breathed  naught  but  rage  and  vengeance.?' 

"  She  smiled  pityingly. 

"  '  1  was  as  calm  and  cold  as  reason  itself.  I  con- 
demned the  Huguenots  pitilessly,  but  without  temper; 
they  were  the  rotten  orange  in  my  basket  of  fruit. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  479 

As  Queen  of  England,  I  would  have  dealt  with  the 
Catholics  in  the  same  way,  if  they  had  been  sedi- 
tious. In  order  that  our  power  should  have  any  life 
at  all  in  those  days,  it  was  essential  that  there  should 
be  but  one  God,  one  faith,  one  master  in  the  State. 
Luckily  for  me,  I  carved  my  justification  imperish- 
ably  in  one  remark.  When  Birague  mistakenly 
announced  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Dreux,  I  ex- 
claimed: "  Very  well,  we  will  go  to  the  conven- 
ticle!"— You  accuse  me  of  hating  those  who  pro- 
fessed the  Reformed  religion?  I  esteemed  them 
greatly  and  I  did  not  know  them.  If  I  felt  aversion 
for  any  political  leaders,  it  was  for  the  cowardly 
Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  and  for  his  brother,  a  shrewd 
and  brutal  soldier,  both  of  whom  kept  spies  about 
me.  They  were  my  children's  foes,  they  sought  to 
tear  the  crown  from  their  hands;  I  saw  them  every 
day,  and  they  drove  me  to  frenzy.  If  we  had  not 
brought  about  the  Saint  Bartholomew,  the  Guises 
would  have  done  it  with  the  aid  of  Rome  and  its 
monks.  The  League,  which  was  not  powerful  until 
1  was  an  old  woman,  would  have  begun  in  1573.' 

"  '  But,  madame,  instead  of  ordering  that  horrible 
slaughter, — pray  excuse  my  frankness, — why  not 
have  employed  the  boundless  resources  of  your 
political  system  in  giving  to  the  reformers  the  wise 
institutions  which  made  the  reign  of  Henri  IV.  so 
glorious  and  so  peaceful?' 

"  She  smiled  again,  shrugged  her  shoulders,  and 
the  deep  wrinkles  gave  to  her  pale  face  an  expres- 
sion of  bitter  irony. 


48o  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  *  Nations,'  she  said,  '  need  rest  after  desperate 
struggles:  that  is  the  secret  of  that  reign.  But 
Henri  IV.  committed  two  irreparable  mistakes:  he 
neither  abjured  Protestantism,  nor  allowed  France 
to  be  Catholic,  after  becoming  a  Catholic  himself. 
He  alone  found  himself  in  a  position  of  change  with- 
out shaking  France  to  its  foundations.  Either  no 
stole  or  no  conventicle!  that  should  have  been  his 
thought.  To  leave  in  a  government  two  hostile 
elements  with  nothing  to  hold  the  balance  between 
them,  that  is  a  crime  in  a  king,  for  thus  he  sows  the 
seed  of  revolution.  To  God  alone  does  it  belong  to 
bring  good  and  evil  constantly  face  to  face  in  His 
work.  But  it  may  be  that  that  sentence  was  in- 
scribed at  the  root  of  the  policy  of  Henri  IV.,  and 
perhaps  it  caused  his  death.  It  is  impossible  that 
Sully  did  not  cast  a  covetous  glance  at  the  vast 
possessions  of  the  clergy,  which,  by  the  way,  the 
clergy  did  not  absolutely  own,  for  the  nobility  squan- 
dered at  least  two-thirds  of  their  revenues.  Sully 
was  a  Huguenot,  but  he  owned  abbeys.* 

"  She  paused,  and  seemed  to  reflect. 

**  '  But,'  she  continued,  '  do  you  realize  that  it  is 
the  niece  of  a  Pope  whom  you  are  calling  to  account 
for  her  Catholicism?' 

"  Again  she  paused. 

**  *  After  all,  I  could  have  l)een  a  Calvinist  with  a 
good  heart,'  she  added,  with  a  gesture  of  indiffer- 
ence. '  The  superior  men  of  your  age  cannot  still 
believe  that  religion  counted  for  aught  in  that  suit, 
the  most  important  of  all  that  Europe  ever  tried,  a 


THE  APPARITION 


"/  do  not  know,''  he  continued,  "  whether  the  face 
that  had  been  evoked  made  itself  invisible  and 
followed  me  ;  but  as  soon  as  I  laid  my  head  upon 
my  pillow,  I  saw  Catherine's  tall  figure  standing 
before  me." 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  481 

far-reaching  revolution  retarded  by  trivial  causes 
which  did  not  prevent  it  from  bursting  on  the  world, 
as  I  failed  to  strangle  it.  A  revolution,'  she  con- 
tinued, with  a  searching  glance  at  me,  *  which  is 
still  in  progress  and  which  you  may  finish.  Yes, 
_you  who  listen  to  me!' 

"  I  shuddered. 

"  '  What!  has  no  one  realized  as  yet  that  the  old 
interests  and  the  new  interests  seized  upon  Rome 
and  Luther  merely  as  banners?  Why!  to  avoid  a 
struggle  almost  identical  with  this,  Louis  IX.,  by 
leading  away  from  France  a  hundred-fold  more  peo- 
ple than  I  condemned  to  death,  and  leaving  them  on 
the  sands  of  Egypt,  earned  the  name  of  Saint-Louis! 
And  L?— But  I  failed!' 

"  She  beat  her  head,  and  said  nothing  for  a  mo- 
ment. It  was  no  longer  a  queen  whom  I  saw  before 
me,  but  rather  one  of  those  ancient  Druidesses  who 
sacrificed  human  beings,  and  who  had  the  art  of 
unrolling  the  pages  of  the  future  by  exhuming  the 
information  buried  in  the  past.  But  soon  she  raised 
her  queenly  and  majestic  face  once  more, 

"  '  By  directing  the  attention  of  the  middle  class  to 
the  abuses  of  the  Roman  Church,'  she  said,  '  Luther 
and  Calvin  aroused  throughout  Europe  a  spirit  of 
investigation  which  inevitably  led  the  people  to 
insist  upon  examining  everything.  Examination 
leads  to  doubt.  Instead  of  the  faith  that  is  essential 
to  the  social  structure,  they  dragged  after  them  and 
into  distant  lands  an  inquisitive  philosophy,  armed 
;,with  hammers,  greedy  for  ruins.  Science  burst 
31 


482  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

forth,  resplendent  with  its  false  brilliancy,  from  the 
bosom  of  heresy.  The  question  at  issue  was  not  so 
much  reform  within  the  Church,  as  the  indefinite 
liberty  of  man,  which  is  the  death  of  all  power.  I 
have  seen  it  myself.  The  consequence  of  the  suc- 
cesses obtained  by  the  Huguenots  in  their  struggle 
against  the  priesthood,  even  then  more  powerfully 
armed  and  more  formidable  than  the  crown,  was  the 
ruin  of  the  monarchical  power  built  up  by  Louis  XI. 
at  such  enormous  expense  on  the  ruins  of  feudalism. 
It  involved  nothing  less  than  the  annihilation  of  re- 
ligion and  royalty,  over  whose  remains  all  the  middle 
classes  of  Europe  were  to  form  a  compact.  There- 
fore the  struggle  was  a  war  to  the  death  between 
the  new  coalitions  and  the  laws,  the  ancient  beliefs. 
The  Catholics  represented  the  material  interests  of 
the  monarchy,  the  nobles,  and  the  clergy.  It  was  a 
duel  without  quarter  between  two  giants, — the  Saint 
Bartholomew,  unfortunately,  was  only  a  wound. 
Remember  that,  to  spare  a  few  drops  of  blood  at 
an  opportune  moment,  it  is  allowed  to  be  shed  later 
in  torrents.  The  intelligence  which  soars  above  a 
nation  cannot  avoid  one  misfortune,  the  misfortune 
of  finding  no  peers  by  whom  to  be  impartially  tried 
when  it  has  succumbed  beneath  the  weight  of  an 
unlucky  event.  My  peers  were  few,  fools  were  in 
the  majority:  everything  is  explained  by  those  two 
facts.  If  my  name  is  held  in  execration  in  France, 
the  blame  must  be  laid  upon  those  mediocre  minds 
which  form  the  great  bulk  of  each  succeeding  gen- 
eration.    In  the  great  crises  through  which  I  passed, 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  483 

to  reign  did  not  mean  to  give  audiences,  to  review 
armies,  to  sign  decrees.  I  may  have  made  mistakes, 
I  was  only  a  woman.  But  why  did  not  a  man  appear 
who  was  in  advance  of  his  generation.?  The  Duke 
of  Alva  was  a  heart  of  bronze,  Philip  II.  was  stupe- 
fied by  his  ultra-Catholicism,  Henri  IV.  was  a  gam- 
bling soldier  and  a  rake,  the  admiral  was  obstinate 
on  principle.  Louis  XI.  came  too  early,  Richelieu 
too  late.  Virtuous  or  criminal,  whether  the  Saint 
Bartholomew  be  attributed  to  me  or  not,  I  accept  the 
burden;  I  shall  remain,  as  it  were,  the  visible  link 
of  an  invisible  chain  connecting  those  two  great 
men.  Some  day,  paradoxical  writers  will  ask  them- 
selves whether  the  nations  have  not  sometimes  be- 
stowed the  name  of  executioner  upon  victims.  It 
will  not  be  the  first  time  that  mankind  has  preferred 
to  immolate  a  god  rather  than  accuse  itself.  You 
are  all  inclined  to  shed  upon  two  hundred  knaves 
opportunely  sacrificed  the  tears  which  you  deny  to 
the  misfortunes  of  a  generation,  a  century,  or  a 
world.  Lastly,  you  forget  that  political  liberty, 
the  tranquillity  of  a  nation,  aye,  science  itself,  are 
gifts  for  which  destiny  imposes  taxes  of  blood !' 

"  '  May  not  the  nations  be  happy  some  day  at  less 
cost.?'  I  cried,  with  tears  in  my  eyes. 

"  '  Truth  comes  forth  from  its  well,  only  to  take 
baths  of  blood  wherein  it  takes  on  new  life.  Chris- 
tianity itself — the  essence  of  all  truth,  since  it  comes 
from  God — was  it  established  without  martyrs?  did 
not  blood  flow  in  torrents.?  will  it  not  always  flow.? 
You  will  know,  you  who  are  destined  to  be  one  of  the 


484  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

masons  of  the  social  edifice  begun  by  the  apostles. 
So  long  as  you  pass  your  levelling  instrument  over 
men's  heads,  you  will  be  applauded;  but  when  you 
attempt  to  take  up  the  trowel,  you  will  be  killed.' 

"Blood!  blood!  that  word  rang  in  my  ears  like 
a  knell. 

"  *  In  your  judgment,  then,'  I  said, '  Protestantism 
would  have  had  the  right  to  reason  as  you  did?' 

"  Catherine  had  disappeared,  as  if  a  breath  had 
extinguished  the  supernatural  light  which  enabled 
my  mind  to  see  that  figure,  whose  proportions  had 
become  gigantic.  I  suddenly  discovered  that  there 
was  a  part  of  my  inner  self  which  assented  to  the 
atrocious  doctrines  put  forth  by  the  Italian.  I  awoke 
bathed  in  perspiration,  weeping,  just  at  the  moment 
when  my  victorious  common  sense  was  saying  to 
me  in  a  soft  voice  that  it  was  the  function  neither 
of  a  king  nor  of  a  nation  to  apply  those  principles, 
worthy  of  a  race  of  atheists." 

"And  how  will  the  crumbling  monarchies  be 
saved?"  queried  Beaumarchais. 

"God  is  at  hand,  monsieur,"  was  my  neighbor's 
reply. 

"  In  that  case,"  said  Monsieur  de  Calonne,  with 
the  incredible  frivolity  which  was  characteristic  of 
him,  "  we  have  the  resource  of  believing,  in  accord- 
ance with  Bossuet's  gospel,  that  we  are  God's 
instruments." 

As  soon  as  the  ladies  had  discovered  that  the 
dream  consisted  in  an  interview  between  the  queen 
and  the  lawyer,  they  began  to  whisper.    I  will  spare 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  485 

you  a  repetition  of  the  phrases  followed  by  exclama- 
tion points  with  which  they  interspersed  the  advo- 
cate's narrative.  But  such  remarks  as:  "  He  is  a 
deathly  bore! — Pray,  my  dear,  when  will  he  finish?" 
reached  my  ear. 

When  the  stranger  ceased  to  speak,  the  ladies  held 
their  peace.  Monsieur  Bodard  was  asleep.  The 
half-tipsy  surgeon,  Lavoisier,  Beaumarchais,  and  I 
were  the  only  ones  who  had  listened;  Monsieur  de 
Calonne  was  jesting  with  his  fair  neighbor.  At 
that  moment,  there  was  a  touch  of  solemnity  in 
the  silence.  The  flame  of  the  candles  seemed  to 
me  to  have  a  magic  coloring.  One  and  the  same 
sentiment  had  attached  us  all  by  mysterious  bonds 
to  that  man  who,  for  my  part,  enabled  me  to  con- 
ceive the  inexplicable  effects  of  fanaticism.  Nothing 
less  than  the  hollow,  cavernous  voice  of  Beaumar- 
chais's  neighbor  would  have  sufficed  to  arouse  us. 

"  I,  too,  have  dreamed  !"  he  cried. 

Thereupon  I  looked  more  particularly  at  the 
surgeon,  and  experienced  an  indefinable  feeling  of 
horror.  His  earthy  complexion,  his  features,  at 
once  ignoble  and  grand,  presented  an  exact  idea  of 
what  you  will  allow  me  to  call  canaille.  A  few 
bluish  and  black  spots  were  scattered  over  his  face, 
like  splashes  of  mud,  and  his  eyes  emitted  a  threat- 
ening flame.  That  face  seemed  more  forbidding  than 
it  really  was,  perhaps  because  of  the  snow  heaped  on 
his  head  by  a  coiffure  a  frimas. 

"  That  man  must  bury  many  a  patient,"  I  said  to 
my  neighbor. 


486  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

"  I  would  not  trust  my  dog  to  him,"  he  replied. 

"  I  hate  him  instinctively." 

"  For  my  part,  I  despise  him." 

"  But  how  unjust  we  are,  after  all!"  I  rejoined. 

"Oh!  mon  Dieu!  he  may  become  as  famous  as 
Volange  the  actor  by  the  day  after  to-morrow,"  re- 
plied the  stranger. 

Monsieur  de  Calonne  called  my  attention  to  the 
surgeon  with  a  gesture  which  seemed  to  say:  "  That 
fellow  seems  to  me  likely  to  be  amusing." 

"  Do  you  happen  to  have  dreamed  of  a  queen.?" 
asked  Beaumarchais. 

"  No,  I  dreamed  of  a  nation,"  he  replied,  with  an 
emphasis  which  made  us  laugh.  "  I  was  attending 
a  patient  whose  leg  1  was  to  amputate  on  the  day 
after  my  dream." 

"And  did  you  find  the  nation  in  your  patient's 
leg.?"  inquired  Monsieur  de  Calonne. 

"  Precisely,"  replied  the  surgeon. 

"How  amusing  he  is!"  cried  the  Comtesse  de 
Genlis. 

"  I  was  surprised  enough,"  said  the  narrator,  in 
nowise  embarrassed  by  the  interruptions,  and  thrust- 
ing his  hands  into  his  breeches  pockets,  "to  find 
someone  to  speak  to  in  that  leg.  I  enjoyed  the 
extraordinary  power  of  entering  into  my  patient's 
body.  When  I  first  found  myself  under  his  skin, 
I  saw  a  marvellous  number  of  tiny  beings  who  were 
moving  about,  thinking  and  arguing.  Some  lived  in 
the  man's  body,  others  in  his  mind.  His  ideas  were 
beings  which  were  born,  grew  to  maturity,  and  died. 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  487 

They  were  ill,  in  good  health,  merry,  sad,  and  each 
of  them  had  its  own  special  physiognomy;  they 
fought  or  caressed  one  another.  Some  ideas  rushed 
forth  to  live  in  the  intellectual  world.  I  suddenly 
realized  that  there  were  two  universes,  the  visible 
universe  and  the  invisible;  that  the  earth  had,  like 
man,  a  body  and  a  soul.  Nature  was  illumined  for 
me,  and  I  comprehended  its  immensity  when  I  saw 
the  ocean  of  beings  scattered  about  everywhere,  in 
masses  and  by  species,  making  one  single  uniform 
animate  Matter,  from  the  marbles  in  the  earth  up  to 
God.  Magnificent  spectacle!  In  a  word,  there  was 
a  universe  in  my  patient.  When  I  plunged  my  knife 
into  his  gangrened  leg,  I  crushed  a  myriad  of  those 
creatures. — You  laugh,  mesdames,  to  learn  that  you 
are  given  over  to  the  beasts — " 

"  No  personalities,"  said  Monsieur  de  Calonne, 
"speak  for  yourself  and  your  patient." 

"  My  man,  frightened  by  the  cries  of  his  animal- 
cute,  attempted  to  interrupt  my  operation;  but  I 
went  on,  and  I  told  him  that  malignant  organisms 
were  already  eating  into  the  bones.  He  made  a 
movement  to  resist,  not  understanding  what  I  was 
about  to  do  for  his  well-being,  and  my  knife  entered 
my  own  side." 

"  He  is  stupid,"  said  Lavoisier. 

"  No,"  rejoined  Beaumarchais,  "  he  is  drunk." 

"  But,  messieurs,  my  dream  has  a  meaning," 
cried  the  surgeon. 

**  Oh!  oh!"  cried  Bodard,  waking  up,  "  my  leg  is 
asleep." 


488  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

"  Monsieur,"  said  his  wife,  "  your  animalcule  are 
dead." 

"That  man  has  a  vocation,"  observed  my  neigh- 
bor, who  had  gazed  imperturbably  at  the  surgeon 
while  he  was  speaking. 

"It  is  to  monsieur's  vocation,"  said  the  ill-favored 
guest,  "  what  action  is  to  speech,  the  body  to  the 
mind." 

But  his  tongue  thickened,  he  could  not  pronounce 
his  words  distinctly.  Luckily  for  us,  the  conversation 
took  a  different  turn.  Half  an  hour  later,  we  had  for- 
gotten the  pages'  surgeon,  who  was  sound  asleep. 
The  rain  was  pouring  in  torrents  when  we  rose  from 
the  table. 

"  The  lawyer  is  no  fool,"  I  said  to  Beaufnarchais. 

'*  Oh!  he  is  stolid  and  cold.  But  you  see  that  the 
provinces  still  contain  some  worthy  folk  who  take 
political  theories  and  our  French  history  seriously. 
It  is  a  leaven  which  will  work." 

"Have  you  your  carriage?"  Madame  de  Saint- 
James  asked  me. 

"  No,"  I  answered,  dryly.  "  I  did  not  know  that 
1  should  need  it  to-night.  I  suppose  you  would  like 
me  to  drive  the  controller  home?  Can  it  be  that  he 
came  to  your  house  en  polisson  ?  " 

That  expression,  then  much  in  vogue,  was  applied 
to  a  person  who,  in  the  garb  of  a  coachman,  drove 
his  own  carriage  to  Marly.  Madame  de  Saint- James 
walked  hastily  away,  rang,  ordered  the  Saint- 
James  equipage,  and  took  the  lawyer  aside. 

"Monsieur  de  Robespierre,  will  you  do  me  the 


CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI  4^9 

favor  to  take  Monsieur  Marat  home?  for  he  is  unable 
to  stand,"  she  said. 

"Gladly,  madame,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Robes- 
pierre, gallantly,  "I  should  be  glad  if  you  would 
command  me  to  do  something  more  difficult." 

Paris,  January  1828. 


NOTE 

The  following  is  the  ballad,  published  by  Abbe  de  la  Place 
in  his  collection  of  interesting  miscellany,  where  also  is  to  be 
found  the  dissertation  to  which  we  have  referred  : 

LE  CONVOI   DU   DUG   DE  GUISE 

Qui  veut  oulr  chanson?  (Bis.) 
C'est  du  grand  due  de  Guise ; 

Et  bon  bon  bon  bon, 

Di  dan  di  dan  bon, 
C'est  du  grand  due  de  Guise  ! 

(This  last  line  was  probably  g^iven  in  a  comical  manner.) 
Qui  est  mort  et  enterre. 

Qui  est  mort  et  enterre.  {Bis.) 
Aux  quatre  coins  du  poele, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Quatre  gentilskomm' s  ji  avoit. 

Quatre  gentilshomm's  y  avoit.  (5«.) 
L'un  portoit  son  grand  casque, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Et  V  autre  ses  pistolets. 

Et  I'autre  ses  pistolets,  {Bis.) 
Et  I'autre  son  epee, 

Et  bon,  etc.. 
Qui  tant  d  'huguenots  a  tues. 
(491) 


492  CATHERINE   DE'  MEDICI 

Qui  tant  d'hugu'nots  a  tues.  {Bis.) 
Venoit  le  quatrieme, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Qui  Hoit  le  plus  dolent- 

Qui  6toit  le  plus  dolent ;  (fl«.) 
Apres  venoient  les  pages, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Et  les  valets  de  pied. 

Et  les  valets  de  pied,  {Bis.) 
Avecque  de  grands  crepes, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Et  des  souliers  cires. 


Et  des  souliers  cires,  {Bis.) 
Et  des  beaux  bas  d'estame, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Et  des  culottes  de  piau. 

Et  des  culottes  de  piau.  {Bis.) 
La  ceremonie  faite, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Chacun  s'alla  coucher. 

Chacun  s'alla  coucher:  {Bis.) 
Les  uns  avec  leurs  femmes, 

Et  bon,  etc., 
Et  les  autres  tout  seuls. 

This  curious  discovery  would  seem  to  establish  to  a  certain 
extent  the  culpability  of  Theodore  de  Beze,  who  thus  attempted 
to  lessen  by  ridicule  the  horror  caused  by  that  assassination. 
It  seems  that  the  air  was  the  principal  merit  of  this  ditty. 


CATHERINE  DE*  MEDICI  493 

TRANSLATION 
THE  FUNERAL  OF   THE  DUG  DE  GUISE 

Who'll  listen  to  a  song  ? 

'Tis  of  the  great  Due  de  Guise ; 

Bon  bon,  etc., 
IVho  now  is  dead  and  buried. 

Who  now  is  dead  and  buried. 
At  the  corners  of  the  pall, 

Bon  bon,  etc., 
There  were  four  gentlemen. 

There  were  four  gentlemen ; 
One  wore  his  helmet  tall, 

Bon  bon,  etc.. 
Another  his  pistols  bore. 

Another  his  pistols  bore. 
And  another  his  trusty  sword, 

Bon  bon,  etc.. 
Which  slew  Huguenots  galore. 

Which  slew  Huguenots  galore. 
And  then  there  came  the  fourth, 

Bon  bon,  etc.. 
Most  sorrowful  of  all. 

Most  sorrowful  of  all ; 
Behind  him  came  the  pages, 

Bon  bon,  etc.. 
And  then  the  footmen  all. 

And  then  the  footmen  all. 
With  long  crepes  on  their  arms 

Bon  bon,  etc.. 
And  shoes  all  nicely  waxed. 


494  CATHERINE  DE'  MEDICI 

And  shoes  all  nicely  waxed, 
And  worsted  stockings  on, 

Bon  bon,  etc., 
And  breeches  made  of  skin. 

And  breeches  made  of  skin. 
When  the  services  were  done, 

Bon  bon,  etc., 
They  all  went  off  to  bed. 

They  all  went  off  to  bed ; 
Some  with  their  good  wives, 

Bon  bon,  etc., 
And  others  all  alone. 


LIST  OF  ETCHINGS 


VOLUME  XLVII 

PAGB 

AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  CALAIS Fronts. 

IN  CATHERINE'S  CHAMBER 64 

AT  THE  CHATEAU  OF  BLOIS 176 

AT  MME.  DE  BELLEVILLE'S 408 

THE  APPARITION 480 


47  C  H.,  C.  de'  M.,  N.  &  R.  49; 


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